


Sticks and Stones

by Scribblebones



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Bad Jokes, Cats, Coat lust, Dancing, Depression, Dyed hair, Eventual Smut, F/F, F/M, Fabulous OCs, Frisk does not speak often, Frisk is female, Gaster is Sans and Paps father, Guilt trippin, I hope, Impromptu fashion shows, Lightly described reader, Lonely Papyrus, M/M, Nicknamed Reader, One super ugly cat, Reader has altered appearance, Romance, Singin, Slow Burn, Some good ones too, You will understand if you just give it time, colored contacts, hopefully, prolly not in the way you're thinkin, reader is female
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-04
Updated: 2016-08-11
Packaged: 2018-06-06 08:32:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 14
Words: 48,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6746779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scribblebones/pseuds/Scribblebones
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The price to the overworld was a high one and Sans paid for it in more ways than one.  His choices changed everything, changed his face, his body, his powers, his brother... made them both look like... him...</p><p>The overworld is not what they thought it would be either.  Much to everyone's surprise not all monsters had been chased under Mt Ebbot (It's a large world after all) and there were monsters and humans already living among each other. </p><p>Everyone was surprised to see monsters come out of Mt Ebott, they had all thought the story about that mountain was just a fairy tale.  </p><p>They all (well, almost all) had 15 minutes of fame (Mettaton of course soaking up the most of it) as they were swept up in a news story whirl wind.  However no one said just how they were actually able to finally get out.  It was kept as vague as they could get away with.</p><p>The government helped the newly arrived monsters find homes to settle in and get a new start on life and while there are already monsters living out in the overworld, they were still a minority and still dealing with bigotry.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Weathering the fall

**Author's Note:**

> Hello. I suck at summaries, I am so sorry. I hope you enjoy~ 
> 
>  I have a tumblr  
> http://scribblebones.tumblr.com/
> 
> Gaster!Sans look inspiration for this fic (NSFW Blog) (But seriously her Gaster!Sans is so hot omfg)  
> http://elicitsins.tumblr.com/post/143078476106  
> http://elicitsins.tumblr.com/post/141061435036/a-handkiss-requested-by-junkpilestuff-and-a
> 
> I couldn't find a good pic of what I had in my head for Papyrus.
> 
> Each chapter will have a song inspiration with it.
> 
> (Sans is taller in this AU but compared to his brother he still comes off as short (especially since he is the older brother) Sans is roughly 5'6", and Papyrus is 6'6")

Music Inspiration: [Draper feat. Laura Brehm: Pressure](https://youtu.be/j8F1NwrHBIU)

_"No one said that it would be this hard_

_You can't force it but you'll play your part_

_So I will run until I reach the end and who knows where I'll be_

_But all I know is that we'll start again”_

 

-Papyrus-

-September 5 2016-

 

Papyrus stepped out of his bedroom into the dimly lit hallway. The apartment was new and depressingly empty. He starred down the short hall to the door at the end of it. Sans room. Undoubtedly locked up tight. That door... it was also unbearably quiet as well. No magical flames shooting out from under the door, no soft whirling noise made by that damned trash tornado... Sans was so different now. Well, he was still lazy whenever he could be and drank too much ketchup but... He was so much colder now, so distant. Even when Sans was here Papyrus felt alone and Papyrus knew that was due largely to the fact that he knew everything now.

Everything....

Well, everything from the past anyway.

Like how Sans was tired all the time from working so hard and keeping watch. How immensely powerful he is. He knew that Santa wasn't real and it had actually been Sans the whole time. That his cooking was actually terrible. The horrible truth that Asgore murdered humans... _Children..._

He knew about Chara, Frisk, how they messed with time, saving everyone only to go back and kill them; and that Sans experienced and remembered it all. Over and over again...

He knew just what Sans had to do to save them all and the toll it had taken on him. Papyrus knew everything, he wished he didn't but there was nothing he could do about it, he couldn't erase it. There was no erasing anything now.

Sans couldn't keep him innocent and oblivious anymore and Papyrus knew that weighed heavily on his brother. But... He had to grow up sometime and while part of him dearly missed his old life and his old self, but he was grateful... Grateful to be above ground, grateful to be alive, grateful to know. Grateful that Sans wasn’t suffering alone any more.

Most of all he was grateful for everything Sans had done for him and everyone else.

Now he wished that he could figure out just how to tell his brother that.

Things were so chaotically different but Papyrus was hopeful that he could find a way for them to be happy again. He had too because they couldn't keeping going on the same way like they were.

Papyrus shifted his gaze from the door to his bare feet only to quickly avert his gaze to the stairs that lead down the first floor of the apartment. He had strange holes in the middle of his feet and his hands, weird lines that looked like really straight cracks on his face and staring at them made him feel weird. An inescapable and awkward reminder of just how different things are now and that he while he knew a lot more there were still a great many things he still didn’t know. Sans had the same holes and lines but his face and stature had also changed. He was taller, his face was more smoothed out and he had lips and eye lids... it made him look like... like... Well, like Gaster, but also somewhat human and that just seemed so odd to him. Unnatural somehow. That was one thing Papyrus didn't know was just what part Gaster had to play in all of this. 

Papyrus stuffed his hands into the pockets on his jeans and shuffled down the stairs in a huff. He didn't want to think about their father and what he might or might not have done. For all he knew, Gaster had lead Sans down a path hadn't needed to go down. A path that maybe he could have protected Sans from had he known what was going on.

But Gaster was dead now and it was something he couldn't confront anymore. 

With a grunt Papyrus sank down into their comfy over stuffed red couch and flipped on the T.V. To help him force down all the unpleasant thoughts rolling through his skull.

The TV came to life and the soft tone of a woman's voice filled the empty silence of the apartment. _“Today on channel nine news we are going to be talking to one of the monsters that emerged from Mount Ebbot five years ago and has become an international media darling; that's right, Mettaton will be jo-”_

Sweat broke out on Papyrus' forehead as he quickly clicked the power button on the remote. Just another painful reminder of the past out to haunt his ever waking thoughts like a nightmarish ghost. Robot ghost... Ghost robot?

Papyrus let the remote drop to the floor as he rolled his head backward onto the back of the couch. The depressing quiet set in again as he stared up at the ceiling. He was so lonely that it felt like it was draining the life out of him. Everyone was moving further and further apart and it was making him feel so helpless because he had no idea what he could even do about it.

“OOH YESSS” Suddenly broke the silence of the empty apartment and Papyrus just about jumped right off the couch. It was his text alert and was once again reminded that he needed to change all of his ring tones. He fished his phone out of his pant pocket and stared at the screen to see who the text was from.

'Sans' glowed brightly on the screen. 

As if it could be anyone else. Everyone had grown apart and barely kept in touch at all. Well, except for Undyne but she was rather busy at the moment and he knew there was just no way she would be texting him this late. Papyrus sighed and opened the message. “Want to go out to eat tonight?” It read simply.

Papyrus felt a small fire ignite in his soul and he rolled his eyes before he replied. “It's already 9:30pm on a week day, Sans. Everything is closed or about to close.”

A few minutes passed before he got a reply back. “Oh... I guess I lost track of time. Sorry Pap.” Papyrus sighed as guilt panged at his bones and his shoulders drooped.

After a short moment of thought he replied back. “Burger Emporium is open till 10, wanna go there?” He replied. He didn't want to go there but he was willing to endure some potential embarrassment and unease to spend time with his brother.

“Sure! Meetcha there in about 10... ish minutes Paps.”

Papyrus stuffed his phone back into his pocket after he stood back up and walked back upstairs get some socks and a nicer shirt to wear. After a few minutes he came back down stairs in a dark red long sleeve button up shirt and black socks. Deciding that he didn't need to change his jeans since he had only been lounging around the apartment in them. He slipped on some red sneakers he had by the door and pulled on his dark blue pea-coat along with is bright red scarf. Papyrus had changed a lot but he still couldn't give up his heroic scarf.

After giving Jimmy a quick greeting in the apartment lobby he exited the front exit of the apartment building and stared up at the starry night sky. Even though they lived in a city and it made harder to see the stars but brighter ones were still visible as well as the crescent sliver of the moon. Being able to look up and see what he could instead of lumpy rocks or sparkling gemstones just felt so damn good. The night sky was so beautiful. He looked up every time he went outside. There was just nothing like it.

Papyrus decided to walk instead of drive since the burger joint was just a few blocks away and he knew already that Sans was going to be late. Especially since he said 'ish' in his text. It was fall and there was a soft, chilly breeze blowing that was brisk enough to make him nuzzle his chin down into his scarf. He had never actually felt cold before... or hot for that matter before coming to the overworld, but he was pretty sure that was due to the changes that had happened to his body and not because he had left the magic drenched mountain.

Of course how that all worked he had no idea. He had thought about asking Alphys to give him an exam and figuring out just exactly how he had changed but he felt awkward asking and was also afraid of just what she would find out.

It was just a truth he wasn't ready to face yet.

A dozen different things shifted through his thoughts as he slowly walked down the street. He was trying to think of what he could do to make things easier for Sans. He knew that part of their problem was that he was having a hard time finding a job. He had been jobless since he left the mountain since Asgore didn’t need a royal guard any more. Papyrus had tried out a few different jobs. Being a cook was what he had tried for at first and of course he failed at it right away. Then he tried being a prep cook, also a failure. Waiter; to loud for customers. Dish washer; broke too many dishes. Door greeter; to loud and ‘expressive’. Bar tending, could never get drinks right. Cashier; was horrible with money. It goes on and on. It was disheartening to say the least but Papyrus did his best to stay hopeful. Grillby was opening his new pub soon and had offered him a job; he didn’t say what the job was but it was offered to him anyways. Papyrus hadn’t taken the offer yet but if he couldn’t figure out what he was going to do soon he would.

The smell of burgers and greasy food filled the air and Papyrus slowed to a stop as the Burger Emporium came into view. A mixture of emotions came over him as he stared at it. It was comforting seeing a monster run business so close to home but it also had a mix of positive and negative memories tied to it. Well, mostly negative now thanks to… he who shall not be named…

Papyrus rolled his eyes and started to walk toward it again only to suddenly find himself being jerked down the side alley that was between two buildings on his right. “Nyeh!” Papyrus saw stars for a moment as he was violently shoved up against a wall. “Give us all your money you monster freak!” A snarling human demanded as he flicked open a knife and pointed it at Papyrus’ face. “Or I’ll add some new cracks to that pretty face.”

“Dude…” The other human said in a hushed tone. “He aint pretty…”

“What? I didn’t… sh-shut up…” He hissed back at his friend.

Papyrus gaze shifted between the two of them; absolutely confused as to what was even happening right now. “Wowie, while I am flattered you like me so much humans, I am sorry to say your flirting is far too aggressive for my tastes…” The human with the knife blushed in embarrassment and punched Papyrus in the ribs causing the tall skeleton to let out a pained grunt.


	2. Bad Time Habits

[Tove Lo - Habits (Stay High) - Hippie Sabotage Remix](https://youtu.be/SYM-RJwSGQ8) 

“You’re gone and I gotta stay

High all the time

To keep you off my mind”

 

-Sans-

-September 5 2016-

 

 _“S-ans… y-you don-… underst---”_ A hollow, broken voice echoed through his mind as he shifted restlessly in his sleep

 _“Sans…I ne-d yo-r h--p”_ Those big, soggy tears crashing to the dusty ground like huge rain drops.

 _“I k—w you h-te me… bu- pl—se, j-st lis--- to- m-”_ That voice so shocking to hear in such a state because she never really used it. So desperate, so… _pained…_

_“SANS, PLEASE! YOU HAVE TO SA--“_

Sans eyes flew open, his body drenched in a cold sweat. His left eye casting a dim purple light in the otherwise dark room as it swirled with magic energy. “Fuck…” He grunted out in displeasure.  He closed his eye and rubbed the palm of his hand against it as he choked back the thrum of magic pulsing behind it.

The world spun a bit as he sat upright and a soft fleshy arm that was draped over his chest slid down into his lap.  He looked over at who it was attached to and there was some blond human woman he didn’t know sleeping rather peacefully next to him.

He rolled his eyes at himself and teleported out of the bed and next to the bedroom door so that he wouldn’t wake her by trying to scoot out of it.  He felt like shit, in more ways than one. He had just spent… _at least_ a night and a half in a drunken stupor and regretting every moment of it now. He rubbed his hands over the top of his skull half expecting to feel extra cracks but there was still just the one... In earnest he had only meant to have a couple beers in celebration of Grillby finally getting his new pub all worked out and set up in the overworld; but a few beers led to a few shots and a few shots lead to a few pills and… _so on…_

Sans had wanted to cut back on drinking and drugging so much now that he finally got him and Paps into a safer place where he could more easily keep watch… on things…  Besides, he knew just how lonely Papyrus was lately and it made him feel like a huge bag of shit when he went on a binge with no regard for time or who it was hurting. Plus, being a said drunk bag of shit made it rather hard to actually keep an eye on... those things...

 Grumbling under his breath about what a horrible sack of trash he was he decided to make use of the human’s shower and wash off all the sweat and regret before going home.  He didn’t want to smell like the back alley of a bar around his brother. 

After figuring how to work the unfamiliar shower he stood bare boned under the hottest water he could stand and tried his best to not let his thoughts wander into that dark corner of his mind. Sans was ever so painfully aware that his drinking and… _other_ habits were becoming a problem. They were together, they were above ground, and they were ALIVE.  Things should be better but they weren’t, not for him at least.  His depression hadn’t subsided, it got even fucking worse. All the regret and guilt and nightmares weighed on him like he was carrying Mt Ebbot it’s self around on his shoulders and being drunk or high was the only way to keep all that bullshit at bay.

He had to stop though.  He was only making things more troublesome like this.

He wasn’t helping Papyrus or… _anyone_ by being like this… He had promises to keep...

Sans lifted his head and looked over his shoulder as the shower door slowly slid open.  The blond woman slinked in behind him and wrapped her arms around his chest.  He was surprised to find that she was about five inches taller than him; she looked shorter when she was sleeping.

“Mm- you are so amazing, you know that?”  She purred out with her lips pressed against the back of his skull, causing him to wince a little. 

Sans sighed and closed his eyes, giving no response. He should have just left and taken a shower at home. He was not in a very cuddly mood right now. 

“You are downright magic with those boney fingers of yours.” She added; her hands roaming over his lower ribs.

  _‘Fingers.’_ Good, he must have been too drunk or high or both to do anything else. She wouldn’t be bragging about his finger work if she knew all the other things he could do to her.

“Glad you had a blast.” He said with a forced smile. He turned the water off and excused himself from her embrace and the shower.

She let out an annoyed noise but Sans dismissed it. He was done with this long ass night and with this stranger. He in honest didn’t mean to drag anyone down or hurt anyone’s feelings but there was nothing he could do about it now.

“Hey!” She exclaimed as he toweled himself off and left the bathroom. He found his pants at the foot of the bed and pulled them on as quickly as he could, eager to get out of here as fast as he could.  

“Hey!! Don’t ignore me! You said you were going to make me scream my head off in the morning!” She said angrily as she followed after him.

 Sans closed his eyes for a moment and internally cussed at himself. ‘ _Thanks past me, you fucking prick…’_ he shrugged at her. “I did… you are…” He replied dryly as he pulled on his shirt. 

 A confused look crossed over her face before it sank in and her eyes went wide in anger.  “IS THAT SUPPOSE TO BE SOME KIND OF JOKE?” She screamed at him.

 “…yeah…” He grumbled.  “A really shitty one.” He added as he stepped into his boots and pulled on his jacket.

 She growled at him and grabbed a vase off the dresser she was standing next to. “Fucking asshole!” She hissed out as she hurled it at him.

 He ported out of the room and heard the vase shatter against a wall as he left through the front door.  He entered a long dull brown hallway and hissed in pain at annoyingly bright lights. “Nice work Sans…” He sighed out as he fished his pack of smokes out of his coat pocket.  After lighting a smoke and taking a long drag off of it he slowly made his way to the elevator at the end of the hallway, blatantly ignoring the muffled screaming coming from the girls apartment and the no smoking sign. 

At the elevator he pushed the down button, waited for a short moment, the bell dinged, the doors slid open, he entered and after pushing the button for the first floor he pushed his back into a corner and sank down to the floor as he let out a heavy plume of smoke that rolled out from under his jaw and past his stiff lips.  He felt like he was stuck in a fog and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Guilt panged at his chest as he thought about his brother whom was undoubtedly sitting at home alone right now. Sans took another long drag off his cig before he pulled his phone out of his coat pocket and went straight to his text window.

He felt like shit and hanging out with his brother would surely lift his spirits. He even had some new jokes in mind that were sure to get his brother into a rage. He smiled at the thought of Papyrus going off on him like he had in the past. 

“Want to go out to eat tonight?” He typed and sent. 

The door dinged but it wasn't the floor he had wanted and an old lady got on the elevator and gave him a strange, sort of annoyed look. Either annoyed by the fact that he was smoking or just that he was a monster and in her personal space, either way he just ignored her and hunkered down a bit more in his corner as he waited for his brother’s response. 

 His phone vibrated a moment later and he quickly opened his phone again to read it. _“It's already 9:30pm on a weekday, Sans.  Everything is closed or about to close.”_ The response took him by surprise.  9:30pm? He went back to his home screen and looked at the time.

 Monday 9:36pm.

  _‘Monday!?’_ His eyes went wide as he stared at his home screen.  “Shit…” He hissed out quietly.   _“Oh... I guess I lost track of time.  Sorry Pap.”_ He sent back feeling like even worse sack of shit than before. 

Two days. It had been two fucking days since he had been home.  What he had thought was just a night of binge drinking was actually a full fucking weekend. His phone vibrated signaling he got a response and he hoped it would be Papyrus angrily ripping him a new hole in his skull via enraged texting. His soul sank when it wasn’t and instead an invite to go to that god awful burger place that Mettaton owned.  He knew that there was no way that Papyrus actually wanted to go there and was purely doing so just so they could hang out. The fact that Papyrus so guilt ridden weighed the heaviest on Sans. He was suppose to protect Papyrus and it was his own damn fault that Paps was so different now.

 He was such a fucking failure as a brother. 

“Sure! Meetcha there in about 10... ish minutes Paps.” He replied. Pausing before adding the ‘ish’ when he realized that the old lady was gone and that the elevator was going back up again. 

 When he finally made it outside he was still surprised to see the night sky.  He had really thought it was the morning. "Time really flies when you’re a drunk piece of shit…" He said to him self before walking down to the corner.  It took Sans a couple minutes to just figure out where the hell he was.  “Fucking perfect…” Somehow in his drunken exploits he had ended up on the other side of the city meaning he was a good hour away from where he was supposed to be meeting his brother. “10-ish minutes…” He breathed out as he took one last drag off his cig before snuffing it out. This was going to take a bit of work if he was actually going to be able to keep to that time frame.  He rarely came to this side of the city so he didn’t have any short cuts here and he couldn’t just port home either, it was a tad out of range even for him. 

“I should have said 30-ish…” He grumbled out just before porting up the street about four blocks. 

 


	3. No Fun in Losing

[MSMR: Dark Doo Wop](https://youtu.be/N0yFi_EXAC8)

 

“This world is gonna burn, burn burn burn

As long as we’re going down…

Baby you should stick around

Baby you should stick around.”

 

-You-

-September 5 2016-

 

“Fifty dollars… for cat food…” You exclaim in pure shock. “Damn… I fucking love my cat but-“

“But Nothing!" Your friend; Tess chimed in. Her tone high and pushy like always. "You need to get healthier cat food for that damn freaky fur beast you call a pet... It NEEDS it..." She grabbed the medium size bag of cat food off the shelf and shoved it into your hands. "There is something not right about that damn cat Theo... and you need to do something about it!" 

"Wha- Captain?  There is nothing wrong with him... He is perfectly healthy. The vet said so." Freaky fur beast??  You felt insulted on behalf of your sweet pet. Just because people thought he was super ugly they would just assume something was wrong with him. Besides, you had no idea why everyone thought he was so ugly, he was down right adorable to you.

"Riiight, and my teacher said I was so smart that I was going to be a big time doctor by the time I was twenty and now look at me- Some sad ass waitress in some sad ass diner dealing with grumpy old grandmas and flirty fish monsters." Said with an accusing glare. "He wasn't right and your vet could be wrong too and all I am saying is that you should get a second opinion on that fur beast before it keels over in your apartment and leaves behind a nest of demon parasites or something."  

"Demon para- Come on, you are being way to harsh on my poor sweet cat.  He's just had a hard life is all. Not everyone can go through what he did and come out looking like  a princess, alright?" You snap back at her, feeling annoyance rise in you like a fire. You begrudgingly put the bag of cat food in the small shopping cart and grab a couple cans of wet cat food as well.  

"Alright... alright..." Tess said with a sigh, putting up her hands in defeat.  "Just don't expect me to pet that freaky beast when I come over." 

"Yeah, yeah..." You sigh and roll your eyes. "Lets get going, Its getting late and I want to go to bed before 10.  I have a few errands to take care of tomorrow morning and I don't want to be dead tired while doing it." 

Tess lets out an excited gasp as she steps in front of the cart to stop you in your tracks. "Oh... my god! Are you finally buying a dress?!" 

You give her a cold blank stare let out a slow strained "Yes..." 

"AH!" Her face lit up so much you could practically see sparkles around her impeccably painted face. "You have to take me with!"

"No."

Her face recoiled almost comically at your answer. "WHAT?! WHY NOT!?" She shrieked pulling the attention of some of the other customers milling about the aisle around you.

"Because if I let you help me pick out a dress it would so short I would be playing peek-a-boo with my vagina every time I sat down or bent over slightly." You said dryly as you shifted the cart and moved it around her, quickly making a b-line for the check out.

"Wha- WOULD NOT!" 

"Yes you would."

"But Theo!" Tess begged

"No." 

"PLEASE!"

You let out a heavy sigh as you push your cart into the check out line. "No, alright?  I already have a dress in mind. I honestly don't need any help, okay?" You see the defeated look on her face and feel a pang of guilt.  "Ugh... Tess, please, I just... I need to get this on my own... okay?"

Tess gives you a long hard stare before finally clicking her tongue and letting her shoulders droop in defeat. "Fiiine..." She lets out a huff and crosses her arms. "But if you don't at least send me a picture I will disown you!" 

"Heh, alright. I will send you _one_ picture." You saying teasingly as you pay for your fancy pants cat food.

"You are so damn stubborn..." She grumbled.

You give her a sly smile and soft chuckle. 

"Ugh, you're lucky you're so damn cute." She mumbles.

"Aw- you flatter me, love." You add teasingly.

You stop at the entrance to the store and pull off your light blue backpack and slip the cat food into it, as well as the few cans of wet food, zip it up and sling it back over your shoulders. 

"Are you serious right now?" Tess asks as she buttoned up her fluffy pink coat. "You're walking home... at night... in the cold..." 

You laugh. "Yeah, I do it almost EVERY night, Tess." You say back in a mocking tone.

"You have GOT to get over this whole car phobia thing, what are you gonna do when winter hits?" She asks, her tone honest and worried. Her arm hooks around yours as you walk out of the store and into the cold night air.

"It's just snow sweetheart. Besides, my apartment is just five or ten blocks away from everything I could possibly need. Easy walking distance." You stop at the edge of the sidewalk and put your hands on her shoulders. "Don't worry baby doll, I am made of tougher stuff than you think." You say with a wink and use your best vaudeville accent. Waggling your eyebrows as wildly as you can muster.

"Ugh. I really hate you sometimes..." She rolls her eyes and pulls you into a hug. You nose wrinkling as its smushed into the fluff of her coat. "Just stay safe... okay?" 

"I will, I promise." You reply and hug her back.

"Alright." Tess pulls away from the hug and gives you a big smooch on your cheek. "I could eat you up I love you so."

You blush and smile. "Cut it out you nerd." 

"Alright!" She gives your cheek couple more smooches. "I gotta go." 

"Alright, alright! Go already. Infecting me with cooties an shit..." 

"Okay, okay... call me tomorrow, maybe we can go out for lunch." 

"I will." You wave good bye and watch her wildly curly blonde hair with those bright pink streaks bounce around her shoulders as she walks to the end of the street. She hails a taxi and gives you a final wave before hopping into her cab. You let out a sigh as you watch it till it's out of sight. The smile faded off your face once it was gone. Tess was such a chaotic ball of energy and could be a bit exhausting at times but it was still nice to have her around. She was your only friend after all. After putting on your head phones and turning on a playlist from your phone you turn the other direction and make your way home. 

Dark Do Wop starts to play and you let out a long, heavy breath as you sink into the music. A soft smile crosses your lips as you resist singing along. For the first time in a long time you feel good. You feel like you have a place in the world again. "That's my, that's my man-" You hum out in tune with the song. The pain of your past was actually starting to fade. While some wounds were still there, still raw and unmending but they were on their way to at least start healing. _Hopefully._

You where finally done with physical therapy, the law suits were all said and done, you lived in a place that you really liked a lot, the shrink was paying off by helping you with your metal distress and above all, you had your dream job and it started this Friday.

"Baby you should stick arou-" You started to sing but stopped dead in your tracks just a few blocks away from your apartment complex. You where across the street form that weird burger dive that that noisy robot guy owned and you just witness a tall, lanky monster get jumped and dragged down the side alley. You didn't recognize the monster but you knew the two creeps that were mugging him. You let out a annoyed sigh and pull off your headphones. 

Captain was going to be grumpy that he was getting his dinner so late.

 


	4. Crummy Juncture

 

 

[Lorde: Everybody wants to rule the world](https://youtu.be/DaVA6sgOpws)

_"Welcome to your life_

_There's no turning back"_

 

-Papyrus-

-September 5 2016-

 

"What do you mean you don't have any money!? How is that even possible?" The mugger yelled at Papyrus. "You are dressed awfully swanky to be a homeless bum." 

"Ah, w-well my brother takes care of all that stuff." Papyrus nervously answered.  The way the human was clumsily swinging that knife around was making him feel uneasy. Stirring some nagging sense of familiarity at the back of his mind. "Nyeh heh... s-so if you will excuse me I have s-somewhere I need to be." Papyrus said as he tried to side step away from his aggressive flirts. 

"Don't!" The man with the knife grabbed Papyrus by the scarf and slammed him back against the brick wall.  "Fuck... th-then just give me your clothes and what ever else you might have!" 

"What, dude, that is going to take to long..." The other mugger added.

"I don't care! I am not leaving with nothing!" The one with the knife hissed out and yanked hard on Papyrus' scarf in hopes of pulling it off but instead ripped a large hole into it.

Papyrus' soul lurched in his chest and reflexively grabbed his attacker's wrists in a desperate attempt to keep the human from ripping it further. "H-human please." His voice careful and pleading. 

"SHUT UP!" He yelled and gave another hard yank. A another heart breaking ripping noise filled the cold fall air.

Papyrus let out a pained gasp. Anything but the scarf...

"Let go you fre-freak..." The mugger's voice staggered when he heard a loud thud echo down the alleyway, as if something had fallen on the dumpster behind him. Both muggers looked over their shoulders to find a shadowy figure in a dark purple hooded coat with cat ears on it squatting on top of the dumpster lid as if they had just jumped off the roof and landed on it. All the color and light drained out of their faces.

 "Hey shit heads..." A low, harsh voice rolled out of the shadowy stranger. "Whatcha doin?" 

The two men shivered as if the temperature in the alley had just dropped into the negatives. "Th-Theo..." The mugger with the knife whimpered out. "Wha- Th-this isn't your neighborh-hood." He said in a trembling moment of defiance.

"Oh-heh heh." The hooded stranger's voice got lower and became slightly distorted. Papyrus couldn't help but shiver as well. It shouldn't be possible for a human to sound like that.

"But it is..." The stranger said as they slowly stood up right.

Papyrus stumbled and fell to his knees as he and his scarf was finally released by the mugger. 

"P-please, we-we didn't..."

"Don't." The stranger said harshly causing the two men to flinch. "I don't want to hear your bullshit excuses..." They added as they jumped down off the dumpster. The two men let out a pathetic noise and staggered backward. 

"Please- we wont hang around this neighborhood any more, we-"

"SHUT IT!" Papyrus and the two men jumped in fear. "I am so fucking board with the two of you... if I catch either of you trying to pull any kind of shit like this again... I'll chop your fucking hands off..." 

"Y-You wont!" The two men said in unison. 

"Get the FUCK out of here!"

They both scrambled over each other before booking it to the end of the alley. The stranger watched till they were out of sight before turning their attention to Papyrus. The lanky skeleton flinched as fear lurched in his bones. Wondering if he was just saved from his attackers just to be left to an even worse fate.

"Hey-" A soft, sweet tone rolled out of the stranger as they knelt down in front of him. They pulled back their cat themed hood only to reveal a mess of deep purple hair held back by a ponytail and bright green eyes that were full of concern. 

Papyrus was absolutely floored by shock. How could a human so cute sound so terrifying just seconds earlier. 

"I didn't mean to scare you..." She said as she helped him to his feet. "Are you okay sweet pea?"

A moment of silence passed between the two of them as Papyrus let all this sink in. "HUMAN!" Papyrus exclaimed as he grasped her shoulders. "THAT WAS AMAZINGLY TERRIFYING! HOW DID YOU DO THAT WITH YOUR VOICE?!"

"Wha-" Surprise crossed her face as she stared up at him. "Uh... hah ha... it-its a m-mystery... _haha..._ " She said awkwardly, a couple beads of sweat forming on her forehead.  She was obviously trying to avoid the subject.

"RIGHT, THAT'S NOT WEIRD AT ALL! NYEH HEH HEH." He said as he let go of her shoulders. "BY THE WAY HUMAN..." Papyrus paused for a moment as he realized he was being his usual loud, annoying self. He blushed slightly and cleared his throat. "B-by the way human, my name is Papyrus, not sweet pea." 

The human blinked up at the tall skeleton for a moment before letting out a soft laugh. "Ah, sorry, I tend to call people I find cute that... It's a term of endearment." She said as she held out her hand for him to shake. "My name is Theo, nice to meet you." 

Papyrus shook her hand with gusto. "Endearment, I see. Nice to meet you as well Theo! Thank you from saving me from those aggressive flirts with your mysteriously terrifying behavior." 

"Aggressive flirts?" She asked.

"Oh yes, that nervous man with the knife called me pretty. If that is how he confesses his feelings, it really needs some work." Papyrus answered as he finally let go of her hand.

The girl let out a loud snort and a burst of laughter quickly followed. "Oh man... that's amazing!" 

"Amazing? More like confusing to me." Papyrus picked up his ripped scarf from the ground as her laughter died down. His soul breaking at the sight of the giant ripped holes it had now. He wasn't sure he could fix it.

"Ah... hey... want to get a burger or something? It will be my treat!" She asked, obvious concern in her voice.

"Oh, I am actually meeting..." He paused as he starred down at her. It was well past when his brother was suppose to have been here and he didn't want to have gone out for nothing. Besides, at least this way he would have someone to hang out with while he waited. "Sure, its a date!" 

"Wha-... heh, yeah, it's a date!" She said sweetly. 

Papyrus blushed happily, feeling like in spite of had just happened that he had made a new friend.

The two left the alley and walked over to the burger emporium. Theo smiled as she held the door open for him. "After you my pretty." 

A beaming smile lit up Papyrus' face as he entered the store.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, so just testing things out by using 'she' while it's from Papyrus' perspective instead of 'you' if that doesn't vibe with you please let me know! I'd love to hear your thoughts.


	5. Bitter Glitter

[JBDUBS: I hate my job](https://youtu.be/Dj6kcpys_Tg)

(Dedicated to Burgy pants him self.)

_"I hate my boss_

_I hate my coworkers_

_I hate my Job"_

 

-You-

-September 5 2016-

 

For a stunned moment you and Papyrus stand in the doorway of the Burger Emporium as you both stare at the service counter where the two of you had just busted the clerk mid smooch with a tall blue bunny man. "Uh... heh... don't mind us?" You say in inquisitively, feeling super awkward that you had just trampled over an intimate moment between two strangers. 

"HAHA!" The cat looking man behind the counter flushed bright red. "W-welcome to MTT-brand Burger Emporium... Wh-what can I get for you fabulous customers...!?" The blue bunny lowered his head stiffed a laugh causing the cat guy to blush even more.

You snort out a laugh and Papyrus groans. "Uh, yeah... sorry to intrude. We'll need a minute..." 

"O-of course!" The clerk squeaked out. 

Everything was awkwardly quiet for a minute till Papyrus broke the silence with a whisper. "What ever you do human, don't get the glam burger, it is horrible..." Papyrus said under his breath.

You laugh. "Everything here is terrible..." 

 "And we are both here to eat, what horrible life choices we have made that landed us here, human." 

The both of you laugh together. 

After a bit of discussion and more bad choices that two of you finally decide what you want. Papyrus gets some chili fries and you settle on a strawberry milk shake because there is no way they could mess up something as simple as a milkshake, right? "Thanksy O'customers, I will have that out for you in just a moment." 

"Let me help Burgy, I'll get the shake." The blue bunny said with an eager smile.

"Wh- B-Blue, you can't come behind the counter, I could get fired..." 'Burgy' replied in a hushed tone.

"Heh, you're the only one here and they wont tattle~" Blue said giving you and Papyrus a wink.

"Yeah, Burgy, we don't witness a kiss and tell." You add.

Papyrus groans while you and the blue rabbit share a laugh and Burgy dies a little behind the counter. "I'm in hell..." He mumbles.

You and Papyrus sit at a table close to the front window while you wait for your food to be made. You slip off your backpack and plop down in a chair with a sigh. What a long strange day you've had. Therapist meetings, final interviews, and now a new friend in awkward smooching situations... Silence falls between you and your new friend who is staring rather intently at the large rips in his bright red scarf. He looked so crestfallen and it just broke your heart. Someone so seemingly sweet should never look like that. "Ah... hey, sorry about your scarf." You say softly. 

"Hmm?" Papyrus looks up at you. "Oh... don't be sorry human, it is not your fault that I was attacked." 

"Yeah, but... I mean... about that..." You sigh and lean forward, folding your arms over the table.  "Uh, I um... don't mean to pry but how come you didn't fight back?" You ask as delicately as you can. "I know you monsters can do that whole 'pull a soul into the cold void to battle... thing' so how come you didn't?" 

"Nyeh-" He stares at you for an intense moment before letting his gaze drop back down to his scarf. "I haven't the heart for it any more so to speak... doing that would just make me even more vulnerable..."

You felt like he was leaving a detail out but you didn't pry and another short silence falls between you. The blue rabbit man thankfully breaking it for you as he brings over your food. "Thanks!" You say with a big smile, careful to not flash your teeth.

"Have a FABU-FUL day!" He adds with a gleaming smile. 

"Always~" You retort. Giggling a bit as both the burger clerk and Papyrus groan.

"So um, hey..." You start after the blue rabbit leaves the two of you alone again.  "I think I can actually fix your scarf for you.  If you want." 

"Oh!...." His eyes light up but fade a bit as his grip tightens on his scarf. "Uh..." 

"Hey, you don't have to decide right way or anything, we did just meet after all; just think about it, okay?" You say, wanting to reassure him that you were not also out to steal his clothes. "Let me give you my number." You fish the small note pad and pen you have stashed away in the front pocket of your backpack and scribble your cell phone number onto it, rip the sheet off and hand it to him. A sweet smile spreads across his face that makes your heart just melt when he gently takes it. What an adorable cinnamon bun he is. "You must live around here right? I mean, why else would you be walking around here this late..." You ask hoping to get some convo going. "I live about five blocks down the street in the Bridge Stone apartments, so if you ever need anything just call me, okay?"

That cute, skull like face of his lights up again. "I LIVE THERE TOO HUMAN!" Papyrus exclaimed. "MY BROTHER AND I JUST MOVED IN THIS LAST WEEK!" 

"Really? That's awesome, now we can be friends and neighbors!" You chuckle warmly, his happiness was just so infectious you can help your self.  

"I would really like that huma- Theo!" He beamed.

"Me too." You said as you push a straw into the lid of your milkshake. There is just something about this bubbly skeleton man that makes you feel like you would rip the world to pieces just to keep him safe. A sharp pain throbbing in you chest as you suddenly realize that he reminds you of someone. "So you live with your brother?  Is that who you were going to meet?" You ask before taking the first sip of your shake. Your eyes go wide in shock as it tastes way better than you were expecting. "Holy shit..." You say under your breath. "Damn, this is so good that I would smooch that blue rabbit too..." 

Papyrus laughs at your comment.  "Nyeh heh heh~" He pokes a fork at his sparkly chili fries as if he hadn't really wanted them in the first place. "Yeah, he was suppose to meet me here. He isn't really the timely-"

Papyrus jumps in his seat and you choke on your milkshake as another skeletal man suddenly appears in in the empty chair that was next to Papyrus. 

"Hey." He says simply as if he hadn't just appeared out of nowhere.

Your eyes water as you cough up the mouthful of milkshake that had just tried to invade your lungs. You stare at him through your watery eyes and note the similarities between the two. This skeleton has the same straight crack like lines on his face as Papyrus had but his face wasn't as skull like, it was more smoothed out and he had lips which Papyrus didn't seem to have at all. While Papyrus struck you as cute this one struck you as handsome for sure. 

"SANS!" Papyrus yelled in response as he came around the table as quickly as he could to pat you on the back. He glared hot daggers at who you can safely assume is his brother but after a moment the light goes out of his angry fire and he stares down at the table. A pained look crosses Sans face that he quickly masks with a forced smile. You absolutely catch note of that and a awkward, tension rich silence fills the air. 

"Holy fuck..." You say, eager to break the awkward tension. "That's one hell of a party trick." You choke out.

Sans gives you a tired smile and Papyrus sits in the chair next to you with a sigh.  "You're late brother..." Papyrus states calmly. "Get held up at work?" He asked a bit sharply.

".....no..." Sans finally replied. Showing no sign of giving a real answer.

You can see the anger flare up in Papyrus' face again only for him to look away once more.

 _'What the fuck...'_ You think to your self. There was obviously something going on between the two of them and Papyrus was obviously struggling with him self while this Sans guy just looked mentally and physically exhausted.

"So... who's the weird chick?" Sans asked point blank in a snide tone.

You glare at him feeling a bit insulted by his remark. You were sitting right here after all, he could just ask you your damn name...

"The-" Papyrus closes his eyes for a moment and the image of a boiling kettle pops into your mind. "SANS!" Papyrus slams his hands down on the table and abruptly stands up, knocking his chair over. "YOU SHOW UP OVER A HALF HOUR LATE AND THEN ARE IMMEDIATELY RUDE TO MY NEW FRIEND; WHO, BY THE WAY JUST SAVED ME FROM GETTING STRIPPED NAKED IN A PUBLIC ALLEYWAY WHILE YOU WERE BUSY BEING A LAZY BONES!"

A shocked look came over Sans face as he stared up at his brother. "St-stripped naked?!" 

"LETS LEAVE HUMAN!" Papyrus exclaims as he grabs your arm and pulls you up out of your seat. You're were barely able to grab your backpack and milkshake before you were dragged outside by the hand. 

"Um..." You start. Looking back to see the blue rabbit and blushing clerk starring in sheer confusion. "Maybe..." You trail off as you look back at him and see a pained, guilty look on his face. You quicken your pace so that you are walking along side him instead of trailing behind. "You okay?" You ask in a soft tone. "Want to talk about it?' He might still be a stranger but you earnestly didn't want him to look or feel so upset.

"Papyrus!" You hear Sans call behind the two of you. You look over your shoulder again to see the shorter skeleton in his fluffy hooded coat walking quickly to catch up with the two of you.

Papyrus grips your hand more tightly and starts to walk even faster. His legs are way longer than yours so you had too scramble a bit to keep pace. "Papyrus..." You say softly but having no real follow up since you had no idea what to even say to this situation. 

Papyrus suddenly stops and you crash into his side causing you to almost dropp your milkshake when you do. You look up to see Sans standing in Papyrus' way. "Tell me what happened." He demanded.

"Well-" You start, but Papyrus cuts you off.

"I ALREADY TOLD YOU!" Papyrus yelled at him.

"T-that's not really... I mean there is a bit more to that story than those shit head ripping your clothes." You add.

Sans face darkens but Papyrus ignores it and shoves past his brother, causing you bump right into the shorter skeleton. Your eyes meet and you swear that angry, hateful sparks fly between the two of you. Its all you can do to not flash him an angry snarl. He made Papyrus upset and that alone made you want to punch him in his tired handsome face for it.

You continue to give him angry glare over your shoulder as Papyrus leads you down the sidewalk. You couldn't help but feel that this good-looking jerk had some sort of issue with you. "What's his problem..." You grumble under your breath, not really expecting an answer.

A few minutes later you are at the apartment complex and you push in your door code since Papyrus is to rattled with frustration to push the buttons. You look around the lobby expecting to see Jimmy but you remember just how late it is and that he had obviously gone to bed by now. Your thoughts shift to your cat and just how cranky he was going to be with you. "I'm such a bad cat mom..." You whisper to your self.

Papyrus pulls you to the elevator and rapidly pushes the up button for the elevator till it finally dings open. It felt more like he was trying to run away than be in a hurry. The both of you enter and Papyrus pushes a few buttons instead of just one causing him to let out a hiss of annoyance. The door slides closed with no Sans in sight and Papyrus lets out a sigh as he lets go of your hand. After tucking his scarf into his pocket he rubs both of his hands over his face. He looked stressed and on the verge of tears. 

"H-hey-" You started and reached out to gently touch his arm, but before you could there was a cold whoosh of air that swirled around you and Papyrus, and just like that Sans was standing right between the two of you and instead of touching Papyrus' arm you were gently touching Sans's shoulder. You couldn't help but notice that while while he was at least a foot or so shorter than Papyrus he was only a few inches taller than you. Papyrus blinks in surprise and the door dings open. Before anything can be said by anyone, Sans shoves you hard on the back causing you to stumble out of the elevator and fall to your knees just outside of it, your milkshake spilling onto the carpet in the hall. 

"HEY YOU JERK!" You snap at him.

"SANS!" Papyrus yells.

"Fuck off." He says to you coldly just as the doors slide close. 

You hear Papyrus screaming his head off as the elevator slowly lumbers upward. 

"This isn't even my floor you ass butt..." You yell out ineffectually and kick the elevator door. "Dumb jerk..." You grumble as you clean up the spill as best you can. After throwing away the remains of your shake you head to the stairs, not caring to wait for the elevator to come back. By the time you make it too the seventh floor where your apartment is you feel angry and exhausted. "That stupid boneheaded jerk! I am going to punch his stupid face the next time I see him..." You hiss out venomously as you walk to your door. You hear Captain's raspy yowling on the other side as you fumble with your keys. "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming buddy." You slide the key into the lock and turn it till it clicks. You turn the handle and step in, Captain instantly by your feet, circling around you like a hungry shark, every once and awhile staring up at you with his one good eye. 

"Sorry I am late sweet pea~" You tell him. He gives you a broken meowing noise in response.

After washing the sticky mess off your hands you open a can of wet food for your kitty and spoon half of it into his bowl. As he hungrily devours it you put away the rest and retreat to your room where you flop onto your large comfy bed feeling a weird mix of confusion, excitement and anger. "What a fucking day..." You grumble sheepishly before quickly giving into your exhaustion. Not having enough energy to even take off your shoes or change your clothes.

You just needed to close your eyes for a bit and then you would get into your jim jams.


	6. Static

 Music: cold hollow static of the void feat. the howling shitty ring tones of your crippling mistakes.

 

-Sans-

-September 5 2016-

 

"Fuck." Sans bent over and put his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. He was too fucking hung over to be pushing him self this hard. He should have just texted Papyrus back with a different time or offered to have breakfast instead. It was said and done and Papyrus was undoubtedly waiting for him already. Going over the 'what ifs' in his head wasn't going to do him any good. He looked up and his vision blurred for a moment as the hazy light spilling out of Mettaton's shitty burger place came into focus. It enraged him to no end that Mettaton was able to get this place in business so fast while it took Grillby four damn years to get things sorted out enough to just be _allowed_ to open his new pub.

"Fucking bullshit rectangle..." He grumbled.

Sans righted him self and stretched his hands up over his head, groaning when he felt his spine pop. The night was almost over. A quick bite and a few jokes with Paps and he could go crash in his own damn bed like he so desperately wanted too. Sans smoothed his hands over his coat as he crossed the street. This thoughts a whirl wind of things he didn't want to give the time to think about properly. He had too much going on, too much trembling on the edge threatening to tip over and shatter around him.

Just as he was coming up on the corner of the burger place he stopped in his tracks like a deer trapped in headlights. He stepped backward with a gasp feeling the world was suddenly cracking under his feet as one of those things that were trembling on the edge just shattered into a thousand pieces.

He had been working so hard to avoid this... and one fucking weekend of indulgence had undone it all. 

There was his brother, sitting at a table close to the front window talking to the very embodiment of his soul crushing guilt. 

He felt sick seeing the two already getting along so well.

_Of course they would..._

He had to do something. He had to drive her off. Keep the two apart for his own sanity. 

Sans ported him self onto the chair next to his brother and felt his sins claw at the back of his skull.

"Hey." He said simply as his hands curled into fists in his coat pockets.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry its so short but making it longer would reveal too much. -winky face-
> 
> Also, if you have any music suggestions that you think would tie into the story please feel free to fire them my way.


	7. Say Yes

[Gorillaz: Dare](https://youtu.be/Aym9-pzfvbA?t=56s)

"Jump with them all and movie it

Jump back and forth

and feel like you were there yourself

Work it out" 

 

-You- 

-September 6 2016-

 

 "Fuck..." You groan as the alarm on your phone chirps its fucking head off. You roll over and fumble for your phone on your night stand only to knock it to the floor out of reach. "Piss and hellfire..." You hiss out. With a grump you sit up like a zombie; your hair a wild mess since you didn't take your pony tail out before crashing.  Captain resting at the foot of your bed giving you a stern glare with his one eye. "Mrn'n..." You mumble as you literally roll out of bed, onto the floor and finally silence your phone. You lay on your hard wood floor for a moment as you gather your thoughts.  It would seem that at some point in the night you did actually manage to get down to your undies and a shirt and you are grateful to your past sleepy self or at least managing that. Waking up still fully dressed was not a pleasant feeling.

You let out a sharp grunt as Captain jumped down off the bed onto your back and let out a grumpy yowling noise.  He was obviously not willing to wait for breakfast. Not that you blamed him after making him wait so long last night. "Alright Captain..." You say as you roll to your side and pull your scruffy grump of a cat into a snuggle. You pet his patchy black fur and smooch his underbite before letting him go and getting to your feet. You stop and pick up your phone off the floor before heading to the bathroom. There were five texts waiting for you.

First was 'Unknown'

'HUMAN... THIS IS PAPYRUS, I HAVE SUCCESSFULLY ADDED YOUR NUMBER TO MY PHONE!' The message read.

You smile, happy that in spite of his jerk ass brother he still texted you.

The second was from 'Hottie with a bodie' which was Tess

'Don't forget to send me that pic you brat!' Was her text to you.

 _"Heh~"_  

Third 'Unknown'

It was Papyrus again.

'HUMAN, I ALSO WANTED TO APOLOGIZE ON BEHALF OF MY BROTHER. PLEASE DON'T HOLD HIS ACTION LAST NIGHT AGAINST HIM, HE HAS BEEN UNDER A LOT OF STRESS. HE REALLY IS A GOOD PERSON, I SWEAR!'

You grimace, not sure you could agree on that but you supposed you could let it slide this time but only because Papyrus was such a sweetie pie.  Before checking the next message to took a moment to add Papyrus into your phone as well, giving his number the title 'Cinnamon-bun'.

You finish up in the bathroom, deciding to read the rest in a bit and head to your kitchen to so you can feed your hungry kitty who had been relentlessly barrel rolling against your calves while you were on the toilet. You give Captain the rest of that can of wet food and mix in a bit of his new fancy dry food. You watched him intently for a moment and let out a sigh of relief when he started to munch the new food down with gusto. You were worried that he might not like it.

After making your self some tea you sit at your dining table and go through the last of your texts.

Fourth 'Cinnamon-bun'

'HUMAN, I HAVE ALSO DECIDED TO LET YOU HELP ME WITH MY SCARF, MAYBE TOGETHER? NOT TO BOAST BUT I AM QUITE GOOD AT SEWING. LET ME KNOW WHAT TIMES YOU HAVE AVAILABLE!' You smiled and flipped to the last text before replying just in case the last one was also from Papyrus.

Fifth 'Unknown' 

'Stay the fuck away from my brother you nosy bitch...'

"Geh!" You spill a bit of your tea onto your table as you set it down in a flare of anger. It was obviously from Sans. "Who the fuck does this douche tube think he is?!" You growl out. 

'You can't control me fuck boi, and you don't own your brother you short stacked jerk!' You reply almost immediately.

You let out a huff and smack down your phone. "Asshole!" Just as you were about to get up from you table your phone buzzes.

Unknown again.

'Don't _belittle_ me, I am taller than you are half pint and you don't know the first thing about me or my brother so just piss off!'

A deep growl rolls out of you and you feel your hair bristle on the back of your neck. This jerk, this freaking salty, bony asshat. You rub a hand over your face and take a few deep breaths.  You couldn't let him get to you like this. You can't sink to his level. After a moment silent tea drinking you decide to just move on with your life, ignore Sans and text Papyrus back. 

"Busy today, but lets meet up tomorrow after lunch around 1:30pm." You reply. 

You stare at your phone for a moment and decide to add Sans to your contacts as well; giving his number the title 'Salty Fuck Boi'. You wait for moment for a reply from Papyrus and when none comes you decide to get ready. A quick bowl of cereal for breakfast, you finish your tea and take a shower. 

After lotioning up your body you decide on a comfy pair of jeans and a white t-shirt with a neon pink and green Godzilla on it.  You blow dry your hair and put it into a low bun, no makeup since you only wore it for 'special' occasions. You check Captains water, give him some smooches and snuggles before you get ready to leave. Cat coat, yellow knit scarf, and slouchy grey knit hat. Phone, keys, backpack, wallet and you were ready to adventure out into the world. You lock the door and take the elevator down to the lobby. You don't stop to look for Jimmy this time since you know he wont be in till the afternoon. Your phone vibrates in your pocket as you head out of the front door of the apartment complex into the cold fall air. 

You pull your phone out of your pocket and look to see who is texting you.

'Cinnamon-bun'

"THEO! MY BROTHER TRIED TO KEEP ME FROM TEXTING YOU BACK FOR SOME REASON BUT I PREVAILED BY LETTING HIM THINK HE HAD BROKEN MY PHONE... WELL HE DID SORT OF, THERE IS A BIG CRACK ON MY SCREEN NOW BUT IT STILL WORKS! LETS MEET UP AT 1:45 AT YOUR PLACE... IF THAT IS OKAY... MY BROTHER MIGHT DECIDE TO CONTINUE THIS RUDE STREAK HE IS ON IF YOU COME OVER TO MY APARTMENT, SO IT WOULD BE SAFER BET TO GO TO YOUR PLACE.'

Another reply shows up while you are reading the first one.

'I HOPE YOU DON'T PERCEIVE ME AS BEING TOO FORWARD, I ONLY WISH TO MEET UP PLATONICALLY.'

And another

'I HAVE BEEN INFORMED IN THE PAST BY A LOUD PUSHY FRIEND THAT TRYING TO INVITE YOUR SELF INTO SOMEONES APARTMENT COULD BE PERCEIVED AS ROMANTIC INTEREST... SOMEHOW...'

And another

'I HONESTLY DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW IT COULD BE PERCEIVED THAT WAY... BUT JUST IN CASE YOU DID... PLEASE DON'T!'

You slow to a stop as you let out a cheerful laugh. 

'No worries, I didn't perceive it that way. We shall have our platonic date tomorrow at 1:45pm. I am on the 7th floor, apartment 7C. See you then.' You reply, resisting the urge to add a 'ps: your brother is a huge jerkface.' at the end of it. There was no sense in upsetting Papyrus when it was his asshat of a brother you had an issue with. Something you were going to have to confront later.

"GREAT!" Papyrus replied a short moment later.

You smile and head off down the street as you stuff you phone back into your pocket. The dress shop was about twenty minutes away on foot so you just let your mind wander as you walk, going over song lyrics and some other little things you were going to need to get by Friday. 

Nineteenish minutes later and you arrived at your destination. A cute little dress shop called Brass Buttons. Of all the tailoring places in your area you had checked out, you liked this one the best. It was pleasantly varied in the style of dresses it offered and the staff were friendly and eager to help a first time custom dress shoppers like your self. Getting custom made dresses wasn't something you really did, well, _ever._ But your new boss suggested that you get a few and offered to pay for some of them so you figured it was best to get a couple. Well, you had actually only ordered one but you wanted to see what this was all about before ordering more. 

Letting out a soft hum you step into the store and almost instantly get greeted warmly by the dressmaker himself.

"AH! Miss Theo, so lovely to see you! And right on time I must say." 

You smile at him a bit shyly starting to feel weirdly nervous about this whole ordeal.

"Right this way my dear!" He says as looped his arm around yours and lead to the back of the store. "I actually have four dresses ready for you!" He adds excitedly.

"F-four?" You stammer as a confused look crosses your face. "But-"

"Oh, I know my dear, you only ordered the one but I just couldn't help my self~" The two of you reach the back of the store were he leads you into a large slightly messy work room. "What can I say my dear, you inspired me~" He guided to to the side of the room while he and his two assistants hurried over to the other side and wheeled out three dress forms with painfully gorgeous gowns on them from behind a fancy looking folding screen. They all look way more expensive than the initial one you had looked at. In fact it wasn't even here.

You give the three of them a shocked look. "Um... I-I can't... I mean, these look _way_ to expensive..."  While it was true that you have had the good fortune of coming into some money but you weren't exactly rolling in the stuff. You were in fact spoiling your self a bit just by getting the one. "Where's-"

"The one you ordered?" The dress maker finished for you. "Oh, well, I didn't finish it you see my dear, FAR to plain. Didn't suit your sparkling personality." He said with a gleaming smile as he rolled the first dress closer to you. "I know you can't buy them all, but I think we can work something out, after all you are going to need a dress for Saturday AND Sunday as well, isn't that right my dear?" 

You blush at the flattery. "Ah, w-well yeah, but I bought a couple dresses at the mall for-"

The dressmaker's eyes flare open and grabs you by the shoulders, shaking you just slightly. " _THE MALL!?"_ He looked three sheets paler than he had a moment ago. "You are making your debut into civilized society in dresses from THE MALL?!" 

 "C-civilized s-... that's not really wh-"

"Nonsense... NONSENSE, I wont stand for it." He spins you around in an elaborate dance move and pushes you towards the dresses. "Just  _look_ at them my dear...  _look at them-_ they have your name written all over them! no others like them in the world and  they are just as beautiful and unique as you are..." 

You let out a nervous breath as you blush to your ears. You have never been so flattered in all your life. It wouldn't hurt to at least try them on, right?

The first dress, the one closest to you is a beautiful light blue color, full back coverage like you wanted and sheer sleeves with the slightest shimmer them. The skirt was a modified A line and flowed like water to the floor. It was so pretty. "Um-" You look up to see the dressmaker and his assistants absolutely beaming with excitement. "Well, lets try them on..." You sigh.  

"WONDERFUL!" You are swiftly escorted to the dressing room with the blue gown and left alone to change. "You are going to want to pull it on dear, it's perfectly snug at the waist so if you try and step into it you might rip it~" 

"Right..." You breathe out.  You strip down to your unders and pull on the dress as carefully as you can. It fits you perfectly and it hasn't even been zipped up yet.  You step out of the dressing room and the dress maker quickly zips you up before he walks you over to a set of mirrors. "Oh..." Your breath hitches as you stare at your self. You almost can't believe that it's actually you. "Wow..." 

"You're darn right, wow." The dress maker said happily.  "Go on my dear, do a little twirl~" 

You chuckle and do just that. It flares up around your legs and fans out like flower petals just above your knees. You feel absolutely giddy with delight. "Alright, lets try the next one." 

The dressmaker claps his hands and leads you back to the dressing room before bringing the next one. This dress is a long slinky black gown that hugs every curve of your body with two long slits up the sides of the skirt that flashed your legs when you walked in it. The top fully covered your back but had short little sleeves. This one really pushed up your boobs too, which you weren't so sure you liked that part of it. You already knew that this one was going to be Tess' favorite. 

"It's beautiful but... ah, I feel so... it might be revealing too much..." You finally get out as you stare at it in the mirrors.

"Ha- too revealing, look at your self my dear! you have a body at kills on sight! You need a dress that is just as deadly as your body is." His assistants nod in agreement.

You groan and let out a chuckle.  "Alright, you are going a bit overboard there..." 

"Ha! My dear, we haven't even started to tread water yet!" He promptly escorts you back to the dressing room and you get ready to try on the next one.

The third dress is satiny and yellow with some beautiful bead work around the hips that work up into the bodice, it also had short sleeves and full back coverage. After slipping it on you are surprised just how good it looks with your dark purple hair. The dressmaker really knew his color pallets. This dress also hugs your curves but not as much as the black dress.  So far, this one is your favorite. 

"MM! Just stunning! Yellow is a great color on you." The dressmaker says as you check your self out in the mirrors. 

You smile as you run your fingers over the beads. Never in all your life did you think you would be in something so dang fancy. "Phew... alright, last one..." 

Once again you are lead to the dressing room and strip down while you wait for the next one. As the dressmaker hands you the dress through the door your eyes go wide. It's a long, form fitting bright red dress that was the most beautiful, sparkly thing you have ever seen. You slip it on and somewhat bashfully step out of the dressing room. You're not sure why but this dress makes you feel down right _decadent_. 

The dressmaker grasps his chest and lets out a girlish squeak. "Now this ship is out to sea my dear!" He exclaims as he escorts you straight to the mirrors. The skirt of the dress is straight to the floor and drapes off your hips perfectly. It has long sleeves, full back and dipped neck that shows off a bit of your cleavage.

"Now, THIS is a look that kills~" The dress maker says playfully. "This has got to be Friday's dress, am I right?"

"Hmm..." You touch your hair wondering if having it dyed such a dark shade of purple was a good idea after all. 

As if the dressmaker knew what you were thinking he comes up behind you, unpins your bun and lets your hair spill around your shoulders in slightly damp curly waves. "The hair is not a problem my dear,,, it really suits you~" 

You hold your hands down in front of you as you gaze at your self in surprised wonder. "It's so pretty..." You say as you turn to your side so you can see your profile. You find it unreal how something as simple as a well made dress could make you feel so good. 

You let out a sigh and turn to face the dressmaker and his assistants. "Well, okay, you got me. I love them... all of them, but I know there is no way I can afford all four." 

"Don't you worry my dear, buy one and you can rent the others~" He says with a nod. "And if anyone asks were you got them from, send them my way, wont you?" 

"Heh, r-really?" Renting a dress hadn't even crossed your mind. 

"YES! I insist~" He replies.

"Well... okay." 

"Ah, and one more thing my dear." He added with a sly grin.

"Hmm?"

"Don't you dare ever wear a busted ass dress from the mall while I am taking care of you..." His tone cold and serious.

"Uh... wha-heh... o-okay...?" You answer.

"I mean it!" He added while folding his arms firmly over his chest.

"I-I wont..."

"Mmhmm..." He glares more sharply at you. "And what about those sad ass dresses you already bought?"

"Wha-"

"Tell me!" He demanded.

"Uh... I-I guess I can r-return them?" You say, feeling sweat start to form on your brow.

"That's right, return them." He relaxes and the smile returns to his face. "Now then my dear, lets discuss your feet. What shoes are you going to be wearing?"

Your shoulders tense as you already know how this convo is going to go. "Uh... _heh heh_... w-well." You blush and poke your fingers together.

"You got them at the mall..." 

"Y-yeah... hnneh..." 

His assistants smack their foreheads and the dressmaker just groans in disgust. "You are absolutely _killing me_ my dear..." 

Thirty minutes later everything gets worked out, the dressmaker insists on having your items delivered since the idea of you slogging his precious creations through the streets of Ebbot city made him just about faint. You sit down on a bench outside the store and text the picture you promised to Tess. Its the red dress since its the one you will be wearing on Friday. You would just tell her about the other ones later. 

After sending the text you sit for a moment and just soak in the white noise of the sleepy city. Your life was really starting to move along and Friday was fast approaching. You feel your stomach lurch with nervous energy. "...This is really happening..." You whisper to your self.  

Your phone vibrates and you smile as you read Tess' energetic response which lifts your spirits even more.

After a moment your smile fades for as you think about the shoes the dressmaker has set you up with. They were beautiful, of course, but you had one problem... you had no idea how to walk in heels... You hadn't the courage to tell him that the ones you had bought at the mall were flats.


	8. Cat Walk

[Madeon: Pop Culture](https://youtu.be/lTx3G6h2xyA)

 

-You-

 -September 7 2016-

 

You click your nails against your mug as you stare intensely at the four pairs of high heels sitting on your coffee table. How the hell were you going to pull off walking in these by Friday is just beyond you.

You shake your head. "I'll just go barefoot... maybe nobody will notice. Haha-" You groan and roll your head backward in defeat. "I'm dooooomed..." 

It was Wednesday and you were now technically just two days away from your first night at your new job. You were all a flutter with nervous energy and fear. Actually achieving your dreams was terrifying work. 

A firm, excited knock raps at your door and you jump a bit, spilling your tea on your self. "Shi- Coming!" You set your drink down and wipe off your leg before getting up to answer the door. Papyrus greeted you with a bright smile in bright red pants, red sneakers and a white t-shirt that said 'Cool Dude' on it in black letters, his red scarf clutched in his hand. You smile.

"GREETINGS!" He said as he came in.

"Hey Papyrus! Glad to see you!" You say with a big smile, still careful to not show your teeth. 

"Sorry I am a bit early but my brother had fallen asleep and it felt like a good time as ever to sneak out." He added as you close your door.

You give him a confused look. "Sneak out?" You ask. "Papyrus... your brother isn't like... keeping you locked up against your will or anything is he?"

"NO!" He quickly exclaimed. "Ah..." He gives you a nervous look and rubs his hands together, obviously struggling with what he should say. "Y-you see... he..." His shoulders droop. "Oh... I am worried if I told you it would hurt your feelings and I really don't want you to think badly of my brother..." 

Your eyes widen. "Hurt my feelings?!" 

"Nyeh..." 

You sigh and offer Papyrus a seat on the couch. The both of you sit and an awkward moment of silence falls between you. 

"So um... I would really like to know just what is going on." You say breaking the silence. "We'll see if my feelings actually get hurt or not." 

Papyrus crosses his arms and lets out a grumbly noise before finally speaking up. "Human... um... my brother... seems to think that... you are... dangerous... and would just lead me to getting seriously hurt... somehow..." 

Anger shoots through you like a lightening strike. "What?!" You shout out. White hot anger flashes behind your eyes and Papyrus starts to sweat. You close your eyes and take a long deep breath before opening them again. "That is ridiculous." You say as calmly as you can manage. "Papyrus, I would never do anything to put you in danger, or ever try to hurt you." The fact that Sans would even think that really pissed you off though... he didn't even KNOW you...

Papyrus gives you a blushing smile and some of the anger melts out of you. "Hmpf, why would he even think that anyway..." You grumble as you pick your tea back up. "He doesn't even know me." You say out loud this time before taking a sip.

"Hnn... I think its my fault. I never should have told him that you threatened to chop those aggressive flirters hands off."

Your eyes go wide as you choke on your tea.  You had forgotten you had even said something like that. Coughing a bit you set your tea back down and wipe off your mouth.  "That was an empty threat, I couldn't actually do something like that..." 

"I-it didn't sound like an empty threat... Nyeh heh..." 

"T-that was the point..." You blush in frustration. "I needed _them_ to believe me..." 

The two of you stare at each other for a long awkward moment. 

" _So_... your scarf..." You say just wanting to get past this.

"RIGHT! NYEH HEH HEH." Papyrus stretched his scarf between his two hands and fluffed it onto this lap. There were two large rips right in the middle and few smaller ones peppered around them. You click your tongue as you pull half of the scarf into your lap and try to line the rips up so they don't make a crease. You were pretty handy with a needle and thread but not handy enough to make these seamless. 

"Man, they really did a number on it..." You say while you grab your sewing kit by your feet. "Hopefully I at least have a thread that will match the color."

"Um... Theo, can I ask why you have sparkly shoes sitting on your table?"  

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. I have this thing on Friday and I have to wear them but uh... I have never actually worn high heeled shoes before so... yeah, I am probably going to fall flat on my face in front of tons of people and it will be the most embarrassing day of my life..." You answer as you compare each spool of red thread you have against the material of the scarf, hoping to find the closest match that you can.

Papyrus picks up a sparkly purple one that matched the color of you hair and looked at it. "I wish I could help you human, but I too have never worn such a wobbly looking shoe either." He lets out a wistful sigh and sets the shoe back onto the table. "I had a friend who could have helped you but... we aren't speaking to each other at the moment." 

"Oh..." You look up at him from the scarf sensing that this person was more that just a 'friend'. "Wanna talk about it?" You ask tentatively. 

"Hn- No... not really." He answered.

"Alright, well... if you ever want too, you know where to find me." You say with a sweet smile. 

The two of you make small talk for thirty minutes while going over threads and kind of stitch would best hide the rips till you both finally realize how fruitless your efforts going to be. No matter what either of you do there are going to be three puckered creases on his scarf and there was just no way to hide them with out decreasing the width of the scarf it's self. Papyrus looks down right defeated by these facts.

While giving him sympathy pats on the back an idea pops into your head and you get up from the couch to get your phone. "Actually, I might have an idea, hold on." You grab your phone off your kitchen table and make a quick call to a very talented dressmaker you know. Papyrus watches from your couch as you discuss the situation with the dressmaker. The call ends and you turn around with a bright smile. "Up for a walk?" You ask with a hopeful look in your eyes.

"A walk?" He repeats. A worried look crossing his face. "Nyeh... I-I would need a coat..." He said, obviously not wanting to risk going back to his apartment where his salty ass brother was probably seething with bullshit rage.

"You can borrow one of mine!" You say with a clap of your hands. 

He looks at you pensively. "I am not sure they would fit me human... uh, you are a bit...  _short..."_

Anger flashes over your face for a second. "What- I am not that short..." You cross your arms and glare at him. "...Besides most of them are a few sizes too big because I like baggy clothes." You sigh and shrug your shoulders. "So, lets just see if we can find one that fits, okay?" You give him a beckoning wave to encourage him to follow you.

"Okay..." Papyrus pushed him self up off the couch stuffed his hands into his pockets. "I didn't mean to be insulting..." He says as he carefully steps around your coffee table and follows after you. 

"Don't worry sweet pea, we're good." You lead him to your bedroom. "Now, don't go thinking any scandalous thoughts because I am letting you into my bedroom big guy." 

Papyrus pauses in your doorway. "I wouldn't... I have no idea what two people would even do alone in a bedroom together that could be considered scandalous..." 

You whip around and look at him wide eyed. "Wha- how..." You pause and shake your head as you turn back to your closet. "Nope, not gonna break that window for you."

Papyrus walks into your room with a confused look on his face. "Window? Why would I want you to break a window?"

"Not..." You sigh. "Not a real window, a proverbial one. Cause like, you are in a proverbial house of innocence and you have to break the windows to see past the shutters... and eventually escape it all together... or something..." 

"What?" He asks looking more confused that ever.

"Ugh, just... don't worry about it Papy. I am just... lets uh, lets find you a coat." You start pulling out some sweaters, coats and jackets that might fit him and pile them onto your bed. After a few tries and fails the two of you finally settle on a black and orange bomber jacket which is a tad short in the sleeves but other wise fits him really well. You wrap him up in a grey knit uni scarf and lend him a black beanie that had a blue raptor in sunglasses on the front of it. "Right, lets party!"

"I thought we were going for a walk..." He replies.

You lower your head and laugh. "We are, we are..." You grab your cat coat, a scarf and hat so that you too could venture outside comfortably. You stuff Papyrus' scarf into your backpack, grab your keys and your phone, stuffing them into your coat pockets. Just as the two of you reach your door Papyrus stops dead in his tracks staring in wide eyed horror at the clump of patchy fur that is your cat who was resting happily on your couch.

"THEO!" He exclaims. "THERE SEEMS TO BE A SICKLY RODENT ON YOUR COUCH!"  

"He isn't sickly!" You retort. "Why does everyone think that... That's Captain, he's my cat." 

"YOUR CAT?! WHY DOES IT'S FACE LOOK LIKE THAT?!" He asked while scooting closer to the door.

You sigh and lead Papyrus out the door and lock it up. "I'll tell you on the way."

As the two of you walk to Brass Buttons you tell Papyrus the story of your poor sweet cat.

"So... about two years ago, way before I lived here I lived in this really run down shit hole neighborhood on the Northwest side of the city. I was barely scrapping by so I had a few...  _jobs_ and that resulted in me having to walk around, a lot." You start. "While walking from one job to the next I had to cut through this empty lot as a sort of short cut and I came upon some kids... huddled around something they were burning. I was worried they were going to burn the whole neighborhood so I decided to confront them about it." You pause and let out a sigh. "The closer I got, the more I could hear this really off sounding pained yowling noise..." You look up at him to see if he is soaking this in. He gives you a nod. "Well, it was Captain... they had bound his legs in duct tape and had rubbed some... tar or something on him." You hated thinking about it. It was one of the most heart breaking things you had ever seen.  "And... they were holding his poor little face against a smoldering log." You shake your head. "I chased them off but that cat... he was in real trouble... and I couldn't just leave him like that... but I also couldn't just bring my self to put him out of his misery either. " 

The two of you come to stop at a crosswalk and wait for the light to change. "When I showed up at my job all dirty and sobbing with that poor little thing wheezing in my arms my co-workers all pulled together and helped me find an emergency vet to help him." A smile crosses your face as the two of you continued walking. "It was amazing, seeing everyone pull together like that to help something that was so likely to just die in spite of whatever kind of help we got it." You sniffle and stealthily wipe away a tear. "It was just... to have my faith in humanity crushed so thoroughly only to have it restored so earnestly a few short moments later..." You let out a soft chuckle and smile warmly as you think back to that moment. "I named him Captain because that was the name of the restaurant I work-wha-"  

Papyrus stops dead in his tracks and pulls you into a tight hug, tears just streaking down his face. "THAT IS SO SAD BUT SO SWEET AT THE SAME TIME..."

"I-I didn't mean to make you cry..." You stammer into his chest, a bright blush crossing your cheeks as people gawk at the two of you. 

"YOU HAVE SUCH A GOOD HEART THEO, I KNEW THAT YOU WEREN'T THE VIOLENT PSYCHO MY BROTHER CLAIMED YOU WERE." He sobbed.

"VIOL-..." You sigh, letting it drop and hug the tall lug back. "Well... thanks, heh." You are actually pretty surprised by what a great hugger he was. You had figured it would be bony and awkward but instead it was warm and comforting. After a moment the two of you pull out of the hug and he straightens your hat as you use your sleeves to wipe up his tears. "What a sight the two of us are." You chuckle. "Alright- well, spoilers but as you obviously know but Captain pulled through. He still has a few skin problems still but he's a real fighter and gets better everyday!" 

"He is lucky you found him when you did human..." Papyrus gave you another quick hug and the two of you started walking again. "Seems your cat and I have something in common." He adds while wrapping an arm around your shoulder. 

You smile and blush at the compliment. "Yeah, you are both super fucking cute!" You say teasingly.

"GEH! THEO! I CAN NOT REPAY SUCH INTENSE FLATTERY!" Papyrus spat with blushing gusto.

You cover your mouth as you laugh a bit harder. Today was really turning into a great one. "You know... it wasn't just humans that pulled together to help that cat, some monsters worked at that restaurant too."

"Really?" He asked.

"Yeah! We all looked out for each other there. it was nice." 

"Good." He said while giving your shoulder a squeeze. "I wonder if I know any of them..."

"Probably, a few of them had come out of that mountain like you had." You add as you stop in front of the store. "Here we are!"  

The two of you enter and are quickly greeted by the dressmaker. "Oh. My dear, so good to see you again! And oh, goodness, you have brought such a handsome friend with you as well!"

Papyrus instantly blushes and you can't help but giggle. "Indeed."

"So, my dears, I hear you have a sentimental scarf in need of some surgery? Hmm?" He asks while clasping his hands together. 

"Yes!" You slip off your back pack, pull out the wounded red scarf and hold it up for him so that he can see the rips. "Think you can help us?"

"OH!" He grasps his chest in shock and looks like he is about to faint. "Oh, the poor thing, let me see it." 

You hand it over and note the worried look on Papyrus' face.

"Oooh! my stars!" The dressmaker exclaims as he runs his fingers along the hems and over the fabric. "My dear, what lovely fabric this is... so well crafted~ It's so soft but so durable..." He looks up at Papyrus inquisitively. "Where did you get it?!"

"FROM SANT-..." Papyrus pauses and rubs one of his bony hands at the back of his skull, a bit of sweat forming on his forehead. "From my brother a long while ago, the fabric that is... I sewed it into a scarf." 

"Hmm, I see and I am guessing you don't know where he got the fabric from, right?" The dressmaker asked

"Nyeh heh... n-no..." 

"Ah, well no matter, I can help you! Follow me my dears!" He says with a quick turn and sudden strut towards his workshop in the back.

You give Papyrus a happy glance and the two of you quickly follow behind the dressmaker. 

In his work shop the dressmaker clears off some space on a tall metal table and spreads the scarf out over it and one of his assistants brings over and entire tray full of red thread of various shades for him to choose from. "Alright my dears, it will take me a moment, why don't you get comfortable on my little love seat in the corner over there." He says warmly while pointing at the red velvet love seat to the left of you. 

You set your backpack by your feet as you and Paps take a seat. 

"So... Theo..." Papyrus says to you in a low, soft tone. "Your story earlier, about your cat..."

"Hmm? Did you want to know something else about him?" You reply.

"Ah, yes... but not about your cat... Those kids, that were hurting him... were they... possessed?" He asks a bit shyly.

It takes you a minute to soak in what he had just asked. "What?"

"Possessed... by a vengeful spirit or..." He adds while poking his fingers together.

Your eyes widen for a moment and your heart lurches in your chest. "P-Papyrus..." You avert your gaze and you hug your arms around your self. Two things pop into your mind. What or how would Papyrus know about vengeful spirits, and just what you should tell him. The answer was no, those kids were not possessed by vengeful spirits; but could you tell him that and let him know that this was in fact a world in which youths could do something so horrifying... or lie and let him think that in order for children to do something so awful they would have to be possessed to do it...

You sigh. Even if it protects Papyrus' sweet, innocent nature you just can't lie to him. "No... they weren't..." You finally answer.

"Oh... that is both a relief and heartbreaking." He says as he sinks down into the love seat a bit more.

"What do you know of vengeful spirits?" You pause for a moment. "Did you... know one?"

Papyrus gives you a worried side glance before averting his gaze to his hands that are resting in his lap. "Ah, well, I never met one... or well part of me did I suppose but I can't remember it." He looks over at you again and he can see the questions you have written all over your face. "There was... this kid, the first human that had fallen down into the ruins... Nyeh... it's a long story but from what my brother told me, after she died her soul stuck around and she wasn't... she was..." 

"Angry? Violent? Wrathful?... Malevolent?" You finish for him. 

"Ah... y-yeah." He nods. "That spirit took control of... a friend and..." 

"They did horrible things?" You quickly add, not wanting him to suffer through the details. You hug his arm and lean against his side, wanting to give him a bit of comfort. "I know one too..." You whisper.

"Y-"

"MY DEARS!" You and Papyrus jump. "I am done!" The dressmaker fluffs out the scarf and drapes it across your and Papyrus' laps.

You both stare at it for a long moment, the rip or where he had sewn were nowhere in sight. You both pull it closer to your faces to look at it over more closely and it takes you both a good solid minute till you finally find where the rips had been. You both gasp and smoosh your faces together; cheek to cheek as you stare at the same spot on the scarf. Both of you absolutely gob smacked by the dressmaker's craftsmanship. It was practically invisible. 

"Wizardry..." You breathe out.

"MAGICAL!" Papyrus exclaims.

The dressmaker beams in delight as you both fawn over his talents. "Thank you my dears." 

You pull away from Papyrus, take off the knit scarf of yours he is wearing and wrap his red one around his neck were it belonged. Papyrus' face was absolutely beaming with happiness. 

"Now, my dears, there is a matter of my payment..." The dressmaker practically hums out.

"Oh! Of course, I will-" You start to say as you start to reach for your wallet.

"Oh no, my dear, I don't want money..." 

You and Papyrus glance at each other for a nervous moment. "Um... w-what do you-" 

"I'll cut to the quick my dears, I want models... Help me out by trying on some clothes, do a little catwalk, pose, pose, pose and let me snap some photos for my website..." He says and waits tentatively for your responses.

 "O-oh..." You say, a little surprised by this response. You look back at Papyrus. "Uh, want do you think?"

"SOUNDS LIKE FUN!" He answers. 

"SPLENDID! Lets get started." The dressmaker grabs you both by your wrists and pull you both to your feet. He is much stronger than he looked. After taking some quick measurements from Papyrus he leads both of you to a separate dressing rooms that are side by side and the two of you wait.

"I've never modeled before..." You hear Papyrus say from his dressing room. "It's exciting..." He says.  "And horrifying."   

"Heh, yeah. Not exactly how I thought this day was going to go." You reply. "But, I am having a lot of fun."

"Me too!" He said with a slight chuckle. "Thank you... by the way; I haven't really gone out and done anything in a long time."

"Alright-" Came two softer voices. The dressmaker's assistants undoubtedly. "Put these on and then both come out at the same time." They say in unison as they slip you both your outfits through the doors. "Wear that wonderful red scarf with yours My dear." The dressmaker said to Papyrus.

A few short moments later the two of you are dressed and ready to come out, well almost. You are struck like a deer in headlights as you stare at the shoes for your outfit. Black high heels with deep purple soles on the bottom. They were beautiful but... "Hnn..." You reluctantly put them on, the assistants do an in unison countdown and you both walk out... or well, Papyrus walks out and you wobble out.

You hear the snap of a camera and that is followed by a disappointed noise. "Oh my, that is not what I was hoping for at all..." 

You can help but blush in embarrassment. 

"My dear..." The dressmaker starts. "Do you... not know how to walk in heels?" 

"Uh..." You blush brighter.

"The shoes from the mall... they are flats aren't they..." He adds.

You nod.

The assistants smack their foreheads and the dressmaker groans in disgust. "MY DRESSES ALMOST WORN WITH FLATS! The absurdity!" 

Papyrus looks from you too the dressmaker in pure confusion.

"Ugh, alright, we can work with this! Donny, Lex! You know what to do..." The two assistants snap to attention and turn towards you in perfect unison.  You flinch.

"My dear-" The dressmaker says pointing at Papyrus. "Come with me!" 

Papyrus gives you a nervous look before reluctantly following the dressmaker.

"Time to work dear girl." The two assistants say to you in unison. You would swear that were twins if one wasn't human and the other a rabbit monster.

"Geh... y-you two are kind of creeping me out..." You half whisper as you break out in a cold sweat. 

They obviously don't care as they hook you by the arms and drag you to the center of the store where it had a long open walk way, obviously set up like a runway on purpose. They stand you up at the far end away from the entrance to the store. "Stay here..." They slip out of their shoes, roll up their pant legs and slip into some high heels.

"Dear girl..." Donny, the human with strawberry blond hair says as he stands in front of you, hand on his hip. "Walking in heels isn't just a skill, it is a STATEMENT!" He whips around and stomps down the walkway like he had been walking in heels his whole life. "Heel, toe, heel, toe, stomp, stomp, stomp!" At the end, he whips around and strikes a dramatic pose.

Lex steps in front of you, blocking your view of the other. "And what, you might be asking; is that statement?!" He too whips around and starts to walk down walkway. "I fight, I slay, so get the fuck out of my way!" 

"Do you understand?" Donny says who is now suddenly right next to you, causing you to flinch. 

"Uh-" 

"UH?!" Donny shoots back at you. "Are you weak my dear girl?"

"N-no?"

"Are you a push over?!" Lex adds who is also now right next to you causing you to flinch again.

"N-no..." 

"Do you let people walk all over you like a dirty little doormat?" They say in unison.

"No." 

"That's right, you are a fighter!" Donny says.

"You are a force to be reckoned with." Lex says.

"You are a motherfucking force of nature!" They both say. "Now channel that raw power and tear up this walkway!" 

Feeling pumped, you walk forward with a mountain of confidence; take five steps, wobble and trip over your own feet. You gasp and just as you are sure you are about to smash your face into the firmly carpeted walkway you levitate for quick moment and land safely on the floor, no bump, bruise or broken nose thankfully.

"Nice save dear girl." They both say as they pull you to your feet.

"Wha- I didn't..." You start, but they ignore you.

"Again, this time we will walk with you!" 

This time it goes a bit better. They turn you around at the end and you all walk back, again doing better.

After about thirty minutes you are walking with out them and barely a wobble insight. It wasn't perfect, but it was a good start.

"Much better!" They both say with beaming smiles. They clap their hands in unison and the dressmaker comes back out of his work room with Papyrus in tow. 

Your face lights up at the sight of Papyrus, he is in a suit different than the first one from the dressing room. It is slick and black with is bright red scarf hanging around his shoulders. The look really suited him. "You look great!" You exclaim.

"I FEEL GREAT!" Papyrus said with a proud blush on his cheeks. He was so cute...

"Lets step up your dress my dear, I'm not feeling this one any more." The dressmaker says to you and the assistants escort you back to the dressing room. You change into a cute red dress, full back, long sleeves and a cute ruffled skirt that flared out a bit. This time the shoes are slick black heels with red soles. Before you can step out the assistants stop you and put your hair up into a french braid, do some light make up and slip a diamond necklace onto your neck. 

"Slay!" The two assistants say in cheerful unison.

"Alright, you creepy cuties." You reply softly.

The dressmaker has you hold onto Papyrus' arm and the two of you walk down the walkway together all while the dressmaker and his two assistants snap pictures of the two of you. "Yes! YES! You are killing me with greatness!" The dressmaker exclaims and you can't help but giggle. you wobble a few times but nothing you can't recover from.

After, the dressmaker has you Papyrus do some poses around the store and the workshop before you change into the next set of outfits.

It's more of the same, walk, walk, walk, pose, drape, pose and onto the next set. This goes on for a couple hours, a couple customers that stop by even taking the time to take their own photos of you and Papy. You feel elated and find your self loving each outfit more than the last. 

By the time the dressmaker is ready to be done it is six at night and you feel a bit exhausted but happy and content. And by the look of him, so does Papyrus who is going home with a new suit as well.

"Wowie! It's so late! Nyeh heh heh." Papyrus says with a happy blush on his cheeks. "Sans is probably furious with me!"

You stick out your tongue at the mention of the Salty fuck boi as the two of you start the walk home. Your phone vibrates in your pocket and you pull it out, seeing you had quite a few messages. Seeing the newest ones are from Donny, Lex and the Dressmaker; whom you now knew as Kevin, you open them up first. Each of them have sent you some of the photos and you let out an excited snort of a giggle. "Oh man, these are great!"

Papyrus slows down so that he can look at them. 

The first one is two of you looking super fashionable in the first set of outfits, and you slide to the next. You in a silver, shimmery mermaid like dress and Papyrus in a black pinstripe suit that you think would fit right into a old mob movie. The two of you look like a rich married couple at the head of a drug cartel. 

"Fancy!" Papyrus exclaims.

The next one was a close up pic of the two of you, you giving Papyrus a smooch on the cheek and Papyrus blushing to the heavens. Your heart melts, it was just so cute. The both of you let out a collective 'aaaw' when you see it.

"So my new wallpaper." You say as you do just that.

"SEND THAT ONE TO ME PLEASE... Actually, I want all of them..." 

 "I'm pretty sure they sent them to you as well Papyrus!" You reply.

He takes a moment and checks his phone. "THEY DID, WOWIE!" He takes a deep breath and lets out an excited laugh. "NYEH HEH HEH, I GAINED THREE NEW FRIENDS TODAY! I AM _SO_ POPULAR!" 

You let out a happy chuckle, careful not to show your teeth. "Fuck yeah you are!"

Papyrus pauses for a moment before repeating your words loudly and proudly. "FUCK YEAH I AM!"

You cover your mouth and laugh harder.

Today had turned out to be such a great day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, long chapter I know, but I really had some fun with this one~ I just really love the idea of Papyrus in a runway.
> 
> Anyways, I did have some picture inspiration for the outfits, if you want to see what I had in my head for their little fashion show let me know and I will add them to the notes.  
> I would love to hear your feedback on how this is rollin so far as well!  
> Those here just for the smut, do chu worry, it's a cummin~ ;D Hue hue  
> Next chapter will be the ever dreaded Friday night, either reader POV or Sans', not sure yet.


	9. Time after time

 

[Postmodern Jukebox: Time after Time](https://youtu.be/yKcPEtKu7CM)

_"If you're lost you can look and you will find me_  
_Time after time_  
_If you fall I will catch you, I will be waiting_  
_Time after time"_

 

-You-

-September 9 2016-

 

 

One long breath in and a slow exhale out.

There was a weird stillness in the room and the only sound was muffled chatter beyond your closed door. You weren't just in any room, it was a dressing room.   _Your_ dressing room. It had your name on the door and everything. It was Friday night and in about twelve minutes and a handful of seconds you were going to go out onto a stage and sing in front a packed room full of strangers. Well, at least Tess and Papyrus were here too and would be sitting close up front... or at least you hoped they would be...

Deep breath in, slow exhale out....

You stare at your self in the long mirror next to your vanity. You are wearing Kevin's beautiful sparkly red, floor length dress and matching heels that truthfully you were still a bit wobbly in. Your hair was pulled back into a bun sort of thing and long ringlet curls cascaded down over your right shoulder. Tess had done your hair and your make up for you since being this dressed up was all super new too you and she did an amazing job. It felt so weird to look at your self. It had honestly never crossed your mind that you could look so pretty. You looked like you had just stepped out of one of those sexy noir films from the 50's. 

There was a quick knock at the door and you suck in a breath. "Ah, come in..." 

The door clicked open and a tall man made of magical fire that was sharply dressed in a custom suit and wearing glasses walked in. 

You give him a nervous smile. "Hi boss." 

"...................... Doing okay?" He asks in a soft, crackling fire like voice. When you had first met him you had a really hard time understanding what he was saying but now you didn't have any problem at all, but that largely thanks to him being so present during rehearsals and giving pointers. 

"Y-yeah... just..." You sigh. " _Nervous_." 

He nods and gives you a smile, or at least you are pretty sure he does. Hard to tell through all that magical dancing fire on his face. He steps closer and your gaze drops to the floor. He was really risking a lot by hiring someone to sing in his fancy new lounge/pub that had literally no experience singing in front of a live audience.  It would absolutely break your heart if you let him down. You honestly didn't understand why he was so steadfast in you being his 'leading lady' so to speak.

You jump a little as his surprisingly soft, very warm hand rubs over your shoulder and you let out another nervous sigh.  ".....You look amazing." He curls a finger under your chin and lifts your head so that you are looking up at him. ".....Just trust me when I say..... You are going to be great!" 

You can't help but let out a worried groan. "Why are you so certain?  Just what is it that you see in me Grillby?" You ask Tentatively.

He gives you no answer and just smiles as he gives you a quick hot kiss on the cheek causing you to blush. You touch your cheek where he kissed while searching his face for any clue or even a hint of an answer but you got none. You sigh. "Thank you for the compliment." You finally say after he pulls his hand away from your now rather warm chin.

Grillby smiles at you again and looks at the watch on his wrist. He gives you a nod. "............... Five minutes." 

"R-right..." You nod back and he gives your shoulder another squeeze leaving you alone in your dressing room once more.

You take the remaining time to soak in the moment and try to quiet your nerves. 

"Alright me... whatever you do... just don't puke on stage..." You say to your self. " _Please..._ " 

You take a deep breath, pull open the door to your dressing room and exhale as you step out into the small hallway.

 _"Showtime..."_ You take a step, wobble and quickly brace yourself against a wall. A near by stagehand gives you a wide eyed look. "Heh...  _nerves..."_ You say with a forced grin and he awkwardly nods.

Deep breath in.

Slow breath out.

You smooth your hands over stomach and do your best to tame the wild fluttering in your stomach. The world fell into slow motion around you as you started to carefully walk to the stage. The only sound you hear as you move is the fierce beating of your heart and the sharp click of your heels against the wood floor. Part of you felt like the world was going to crumble out from under your feet at any moment. You were just a few short steps away from doing something you had always dreamed of. Surely the world had some sick twisted plan to rip it away from you.

As you reach the small area behind the stage you see the lights dim on the other side of the thick red velvety curtains, a hush comes over the awaiting lounge patrons and your stomach does a barrel roll. A few more deep breaths and you carefully walk up onto the stage and step through the huge, heavy curtains that had opened just enough for you to walk through. Besides Tess letting out an excited squeak everything is almost shockingly quiet. Your hand gently curls around the microphone stand as a spot light clicks on and illuminates you in shining light; making your sexy red dress sparkle as if it was made of magic and fireworks.

With your heart thumping like a jackhammer in your chest the band that Grillby had rounded up for you hums and thumps to jazzy life behind you; you wait for your queue, take a short, quick breath, part your lips and your soft, sultry singing voice fills the hushed silence of the club. You close your eyes for just a moment as your heart rises with your voice. Your first song was one that you knew by heart, that you had been singing since you were a kid and each line came to you as easily as breathing. It was just slower and sexier than the original.

Your nervousness melts away as you work through each verse perfectly, staying in perfect time with your band and them with you. It was exhilarating and as you scanned the enraptured faces of the packed house you couldn't help but feel a sense of peace. 

You belonged here.

You were meant to be here.

You really did have a place in this world.

Then for a quick, tense moment your eyes lock with Sans who is sitting  in a back corner, his face illuminated for brief moment while taking a drag from his cigarette. He had an intense look on his face that makes your heart skip. You quickly close your eyes and just focus on the song. 

The last verse passes your lips, the spot light clicks off as the band winds down and a sudden thunderous applause erupts from the crowd that sends your heart leaping into your throat. Tess and Papyrus are easily the loudest of all of them; who were also pounding on their table as they whistled and cheered. The lights slowly turn up to a soft glow and you give the crowd a wide, but careful grin. 

"Thank you!" You hum out warmly. Absolutely buzzing from all the positive energy flying your way. "Thank you." You glance over at the corner that Sans was sitting in; curious to see if he was clapping as well. Not that you cared, or anything... It would have just been nice to have something to rub in his face later if he was actually enjoying the show.

You heart sinks and a small flame of anger flares inside you as you see him staring intently at his fucking phone. So fucking rude... he could have at least golf clapped or something...

You hear a soft 'tap tap tap' behind you, the drummer signalling that they were ready for the next song. You nod, take a deep breath and smile. "Thank you!" You say again as the cheering and applause dies down. "The next song is called Bluebird, I wrote it my self for someone special. I hope you enjoy it!"

The lighting changes to a mellow blue glow and a softer spotlight shines down on you this time.  Your heart lurches in your chest as you take a careful breath, you can't hardly believe you were about to sing a song you had wrote your self.

The band queues up, the tone more mellow this time, jazzy but melancholy. 

You let a soft hum as you roll into the first line of the song.

_"Little Bluebird in my window, I know your song is sweet, but I don't want to hear you."_

_"I am chained to the floor and you can fly free."_ The score rises as your voice soars higher. Your heart aching in your chest with every word.

_"Please, dear Blue Bird!"_

" _Leave me be"_

Your voice trembles ever so slightly as you continue on. 

_"Blue bird!"_

_"What's that you are singing?"_  

 _"It cuts to my heart and has my ears ringing."_  

 Your emotion punches through as you sing every line perfectly, another stilled hush sweeping over the crowd as they watch you intensely. 

" _Blue bird wont you please-"_

_"Just fly away!"_

_"These chains are tight and wont let me stray!"_

You belt out the last line as you sing it to the heavens gaining you a few gasps from your audience. 

_"Bluebird please,"_

_"can't you see,"_

_"just what your song is doing to me?"_

_"I can't sleep and my cuts wont stop weeping."_

 The emotional impact of the song starts to well in your heart. You have never sang it aloud for a crowd before and it was starting to get to you a bit.

" _Blue bird..."_

_"What's that you're singing?"_

_"It cuts to my soul and has my ears bleeding."_

_"Blue bird please! Be free!"_

_"Don't stay... down here... with me..."_

You let out a shaky breath as the music queues down with your voice and you catch your breath. A short moment of quiet falls in the lounge and this time you jump a little as the audience once again erupts with thundering applause. A warm blush rushes too your cheeks and you look over at Tess and Papyrus who were absolutely sobbing. You give them a worried smile before glancing once again to Sans table only to see that he was gone.

You felt a cold, icy pang in your chest that made you feel stupid for even wondering if he was interested in your singing. He obviously didn't give a flying fuck about you what so ever.

You here the taps again and you smile for the crowd. "Thank you! You're all so kind!" You say as the lighting changes ever so slightly to a soft yellow. The applause dies down again and the band queues up. 

Deep breath in, slow breath out.

You smoothly roll into the next song and sing your heart out. This one not as melancholy as the last. 

Five hours and three breaks later your night came to an exhilarating end and once again you are alone with your thoughts in your dressing room. Your body was absolutely humming with nervous, excited energy. You had worked through each set smoothly and didn't wobble, trip or puke once. So it was a huge success. While part of you had never wanted this night to end you were ever so glad to get out of the heels. They looked amazing on you but damn, they killed your feet after standing in them for so long. You made a note to talk to Kevin about it later, maybe he had some tips or tricks that could make them a bit cushier. 

After giving your feet a good rub you carefully slip out of the dress, hang it up and pull on a comfy light blue t-shirt with a sad grey teddy bear on it and your favorite pair of black joggers. "Mmpf- pure comfort..." You grunt. You sit back in your chair to pull on some socks when you hear some muffled yelling. You pause and listen intently for a moment and quickly recognize Papyrus' voice. A bit of worry stirs in your guts and you peep your head out of your dressing room a bit so that you can try and figure out if something bad is happening or not. 

"SHE'S MY FRIEND!" Papyrus yelled. He sounded genuinely angry. "I AM NOT GOING TO STOP HANGING OUT WITH HER!"

Your breath catches in your throat. it was about you and it obviously involved Sans being a dick again... Curiosity peaked you carefully step out of your dressing room and sneak closer to where the two are fighting. You stop just out side of Grillby's office and press your back against the wall. 

"She.. She's dangerous Papyrus..." Sans retorted.

"SHE IS NOT! AND I KNOW YOU DON'T BELIEVE THAT!" Papyrus shot back. "I DOn-" Papyrus grumbles something that you can make out. "I don't know why you are so wary of her... She is so sweet and kind, this... this just isn't like you Sans... Not everyone is out to hurt us, why can't you see that?"

Things become quiet for a moment. "You don't understand Papyrus."

"You're right! I don't!" He quickly retorted. "Why wont you talk to me?  What is it that you are so afraid to tell me Sans?" 

Your heart skips a beat and you start to feel like you are treading on a private moment. You start to leave when Sans finally speaks up.

"I just... I can't stand seeing her around..." Sans breathed out. "It hurts..." You freeze in a moment of sheer confusion. 

"What?!" Papyrus asks, voicing exactly what was running through your mind.

You hear a shuffling of feet and the creak of a chair. Someone was sitting down. 

"Paps.... I can't explain it... because I don't want to... but I just..." He sighs. "She..." You hear his fingers tapping against something. "I just don't want either one of you to get hurt... okay?" 

Your eyes go wide. He doesn't what you or Paps to get hurt? What the hell did he mean by that? 

"Don't want us to get hurt?" Papyrus asks. "She would never do anything-"

"No, I know, I am not worried about the two of you hurting each other..." He lets out a frustrated sigh. "It's just... better if she hates me..." 

You feel short of breath. He was intentionally trying to make you hate him? That didn't make any sense... What possible reason...

"Sans... why would that be better?" Papyrus asked, you could feel the concern in his tone.

"I've done this before Papyrus" Sans snapped and you hear Papyrus gasp in response.

Your eyes go wide in pure confusion. What the hell could he possibly mean by that?

"S-Sans... Why didn't you tell me... I thought..." Papyrus started.

"It's... its different... It wasn't like the other times back home... When..." Sans words trail off and he never finishes that train of thought.

You felt confused and conflicted. You wanted to interrupt and ask some questions your self but another part of you was insistently urging you to leave. You weren't meant to hear this... you shouldn't be hearing this...

"Sans... Her hating you can't possibly be better..." Papyrus finally says. "You look miserable... "

You can't take any more and you quickly and quietly go back to your dressing room. You feel a weird sense of panic, obviously hearing something you weren't suppose to. You didn't even know how to process any of this. You just wanted to leave as quickly as possible. 

"Knock knock!" Tess chimed as she opened your dressing room door. "Are you neckid?" She asks with a giggle.

"Heh, no, come on in Tess." You say as you quickly mask your emotions. 

"Aw, bummer." She teases as she walks into the room. "Oh my GOD! You killed out there tonight hun. It was so amazing! UGH, I was dying! I am so glad I took off work to come and see you." 

You smile and blush a bit. "I'm glad you did, it was comforting to see you there... but you didn't have to stay all night..." You said as you pull on your socks. Your mind was racing through a million different questions, so much you didn't understand. 

"I wanted too! Besides, your super handsome boss made sure I was comfortable and even made me and Papyrus some food. He is so sweet... and handsome, did I mention how handsome I think your boss is?" 

You groan and roll your eyes. "Tess... contain your thirst... _please_." 

She gets a mischievous look on her face. "How can I not be thirsty when he gets me so _hot_?" 

"TESS! Ugh, gods that was horrible..."  You groan out as you slip into your purple sneakers. Your mind slipping back to the conversation you had over heard, feeling a weird sense of guilt for eavesdropping. But you were glad you knew as well. There was something going on and you wanted to get to the bottom of it.

"He is so polite too, he kissed the back of my hand and everything! Guys just don't do anymore." She giggled. "And that voice, ugh. "I only burn what I want to." In that crackly tone, so sexy." 

You chuckle. She had obviously asked Grillby what every human asks him which was 'are you going to burn me if I touch you'. Grillby basically gave the 'I only burn what I want' answer to everyone. It obviously had lasting affect on Tess. "Sugar lumps... honey, darling, baby cakes, light of my life... Please don't hit on my boss..." You groan out.

Tess clicks her tongue. "I do what I want to _MOM_!" 

You both laugh for a moment. "But seriously, don't..." You add. 

"I'm gonna..." She retorts. 

"Tessss..." 

"FRIENDS!" You and Tess jump as Papyrus suddenly enters the room. That sense of guilt feeling even stronger with him in the room.

"Heh, hey Paps!" You say warmly but don't look at him directly. You knew something you shouldn't and if you stared right at him there was a chance you were going to blurt it out.

"Hi Sugar cube!" Tess greets him with a quick hug.

You were happy that they both had hit it off so fast. Having lunch with both of them this afternoon was a really good idea. Though you weren't expecting the two of them to bond over a shared love for cooking shows.

"LETS ALL WALK HOME TOGETHER!" Papyrus exclaimed. 

You stop just as you were pulling on your coat. "Paps... didn't you drive here?" You ask.

"I DON'T CARE! I WANT US TO ALL WALK HOME TOGETHER AS FRIENDS!" He answers. "GRILLBY SAID MY CAR WOULD BE SAFE HERE!" 

"Uh..." 

"YEAH!" Tess says with a beaming smile. "LETS HAVE A SLUMBER PARTY PAPYRUS!" 

"Wait... whut?" You rasp out.  

Papyrus' eyes go wide and slaps his hands over his cheeks with a deep gasp. "YES! SLUMBER PARTY!" 

"G-guys... no... we are grown ass adults... we don't-" You start but Tess cuts you off. 

"YEAH! We're adults so we really NEED a slumber party! What better way to unwind for a weekend?!" She says as she grabs you in a side hug.

"YES TESS! WE CAN DO IT AT MY PLACE!" Papyrus added as he jerks his brother out of the hallway and into a side hug as well. You didn't even know he was lurking out there... He looked exhausted, more than he usually did. Part of you wondered if he would even be able to make the walk home. 

 Tess lets you go and claps her hands together in excitement. "SLUMBER PARTY!!"

"SLUMBER PARTY!" Papyrus repeats. The two hug each other and bounce out into the hallway.

You and Sans are left alone in your dressing room for a short, tense, awkward moment. You wanted to ask him what he meant and just why he wanted you to hate him so much. You just couldn't make any sense of it in your head. "You look like you need a hug..." You finally get out, so happy with your self that you didn't blurt out a ton of questions at him.

His eyes shift too you and lock on with yours for an unwavering moment.  "Maybe I do..."

You blush. "I'm not hugging you." You blurt out. 

His gaze shifts to the floor and he shrugs. He looked disappointed. 

Crap, now you actually did want to. Or was he just manipulating you? You honestly couldn't tell. Your mind was an absolute mess right now. 

"COME YOU TWO LAZY BONES!" Papyrus shouted as he came back into the dressing room. He grabs your hand and pushes Sans out into the hall. "Tess is going to make us blue balls!"

Sans lets out a choking noise and you blush to your ears.

"I-IT'S A DRINK!" You quickly explain and you hear Tess giggling her damn head off around the corner. 

This night was turning into a nightmare...


	10. Red Devastation

[Postmodern Jukebox: Creep](https://youtu.be/m3lF2qEA2cw)

"When you were here before,

I couldn't look you in the eye.

You where just like an angel,

You're skin makes me cry."

 

-Sans-

-September 9 2016-

 

"Why did you hire her Grillby?" Sans asked as he sank down into a bar stool. He put his elbows up on the the smooth wood of the bar and rubbed his hands over his face. "Of all the fucking places..." 

Grillby lets out a soft huff as he looks up from the box of wine he was opening behind the bar. ".....She's a good kid." Grillby retorts. ".....You haven't been around, I had to hire someone." He added dryly. 

"Fuck..." Sans hisses out. "I know... I haven't been around... I'm sorry." He let his head sink down onto the bar with a soft thud and moved his hands over the back of his skull. "I had something I had to take care of..." 

".....I know. You usually do." Grillby says with a sharp chuckle. ".....I know there is probably something going on that I don't understand, but you should give her a chance. She has an amazing voice."

"I know she does..." Sans hisses out.  "I am starting to think you hired her just to spite me..." He adds under his breath. Grillby gives no reply, he either didn't hear or didn't care enough to respond. It didn't matter. After all Grillby had no idea what he was even going through, on one did, not really. Everything was falling apart on him, he was spreading him self too thin and stuff was starting to slip through the cracks. Things hadn't progressed this far last time and there were some drastic differences that he hadn't expected. How did she even find out that Grillby was looking for a singer he wondered. 

Sans shifted uneasily as he heard the 'clack clack clack' sound of a stick dragging across rocks.

 _"We under--and each-ther, Sans."_  

 Sans felt his body tense as those words swept through is mind like a cold winter chill. The voice hushed and broken as he strained to not hear those words again.

 _"The s-me thi-g driv-- us b-th..."_  

"Shut up..." He hissed out as he lifted his head. The bar was gone and he was standing in a seemingly endless field of snow, wearing his slippers and shorts... he was him self again. It looked and felt so real that a sharp fear ran through him that maybe everything had reset somehow. "N-no..." 

 _"We bo-h wan- th- same thing."_   came the broken voice again, sounding like it was right behind him.

 Sans whipped around but nothing was there. Sweat beaded on his forehead. It was so real, he could hear and feel the snow crunching under his feet. He could smell the rocky musk of the underground caves. "It can't be... it's not... it's not real..." 

 _"You... --omised...."_  

"SHUT UP!" He shouted as he whipped around again.  This time there was something, a sudden spot of bright red just a few feet away from him that was gradually getting bigger and bigger. "I-I didn't..." He rasped out. Blood suddenly started to rapidly soak through the snow from that one spot and surged towards him like it was seeking him out. Sans let out a choking gasp and stumbled backward. "I DIDN'T BREAK IT!" 

"Y...ou pro...mised..." 

Fear and pain stabbed through him like a spear as the blood on the snow changed into Papyrus' scarf; it was ripped and covered in dust. "D-don't..." He pleaded. "I don't want to see this..." 

"YOU PROMISED!" 

There was a loud thud behind him and Sans jerked awake "P-Papyrus!" He gasped out, he was dripping with a cold sweat. Slowly the haze cleared from his eyes and the bar came into view

"Ah- s-sorry Sans!" 

Sans looked behind him to see a horse looking monster lifting a keg that he had apparently dropped a moment ago. He sighed and rubbed his face and looked back behind to bar to say something to Grillby but he was gone. "Where's Grillby?" He asked.

"Talking to the wait staff in the back I think." The horse answered. "He told us to just let you sleep... sorry I woke you up boss." 

"Don't call me that..." He grumbled out. He might own half the pub but he didn't feel comfortable having others call him that; especially since Grillby did all the work around here.

"Right... Sorry, Sans..." The horse added and hurried off with the keg.

Sans grabbed a bar towel and wiped off his face. He hadn't meant to fall asleep and wished Grillby would have just woke him up instead of just letting him snooze right on the bar like that... He glanced at his watch and let out a groan. "Shit..." He had lost three hours. If he hurried he could still take care of a few things before the grand opening tonight, but first he wanted to head home real quick and check on Papyrus.

Thanks to his shortcut he was in his bedroom at his apartment in the blink of an eye. He walked out of his room, down the stairs to the living room and there was no Papyrus in sight. "Papyrus?" He called out, but there was no response. His eyes sparked to life with swirling yellow and purple light as he looked up at the ceiling but didn't see what he was expecting too. He knew Papyurs was planning on going to the pub tonight, but it was too early for him to go there just yet... A pang of worry shot through him... It wasn't like there were a lot of places that Papyrus liked to go to or hang out at. 

If they weren't up stairs then maybe that dress store or that sandwich shop around the corner? He quickly left the apartment and headed towards the elevator while making a mental note to set up some shortcuts at those spots only too slide to a stop right before the elevator when he heard singing echoing up the stairwell. He knew that voice anywhere. It was her... but why was she singing down on the first floor? It was worth investigating, if anything he was hoping that Papyrus was with her.

With out making any noise at all Sans made his way down the stairwell and silently opened the door enough to see into the lobby. She was at the front desk with Papyrus and the large wolf monster, Jimmy. She was singing something that sounded like a lullaby. It was haunting and beautiful and it was the last thing he wanted to hear right now. Silently he closed the door again as his phone vibrated in his pocket.  After walking a few steps back up the stairwell he pulled his phone out of his pocket. 

'Unknown' 

Sans had a sinking feeling he already knew who it was. 

After going up a few more steps he answered the phone. "Yes?" He said in an ice cold tone. 

"Heh, aw, Sansy, is that how you greet cha old friend? After all we been trough together?" 

Sans grit his teeth and ported him self to the roof of the apartment complex, causing his phone to pop and crackle with static. "How did you get this number?" Sans hissed out.

"Sansy! Baby! Come on, you know me. I got my chubby little fingers in EVERYTHING! Hahaa!" 

"Stop fucking calling me that..." Sans snapped at him, that laugh stirring anger up in him so quickly. "What the fuck do you want?"

"Alright, alright, don't get cha tail bone in a twist. I got a job for you, high pay, low risk... well, low risk for someone with your... _talents."_

Sans let out a long hard breath, sank down against against a wall and pressed the back of his head against the cool bricks. He couldn't deny that he could use more money, but he was trying to distance him self from any sort of job that could put him or Papyrus into danger again. "I don't work for you any more Johnny. I'm not interested..." Sans pulled the phone away and moved his finger over the end call button.

"Ha! I figured you would say that... So I have a back up plan that is sure to grip your interests." 

Sans hesitated. Knowing his ex 'business partner' it wouldn't do him any good to ignore what Johnny was about to offer him. "What?" Sans asked after he put the phone back up against the side of his head. 

"Haha! I knew you wouldn't hang up." 

"Cut to fucking chase..." Sans snapped.

"Alright, alright hot stuff. I have some information on that whack-a-doodle you were hunting down; that one that tried to ice that damsel you are all wishy washy over..."

Sans froze and his eyes went wide as angry sparks of magic flashed around him. How Johnny could possibly have any information on that freak...

Johnny continued on. "Personally I don't get it, I mean, you have girls just dripping off of you at any given moment. Why you would be all looney tunes over a weird chick like her... I mean, no dame worth a dime would choose such a... _boyish_ name to go by, ya know? If you ask me she has got to be a le-"

"Shut the fuck up Johnny. I didn't ask for your shit poor opinion!" Sans growled out and punched the wall behind him, cracking it. The fact that Johnny even knew the name she was going by now worried Sans. He really had been letting too much slip through the cracks. "What kind of information do you have?" Sans asked, his tone cold and harsh. If Johnny had information on that psycho he needed to know what it was. He needed to know that she wasn't in danger.  

"Hahaa! Alright, princess, keep your panties on. The kind of information I have, well... it will lead ja right too that crazy fucker, though personally I think you should steer clear. I seen pictures of this guy and he looks like he is going to go postal like, literally. I mean it... he looks like a deranged postal worker..." 

"How did you even get this information?" Sans asked. "How do you know her name..." He added. 

"Sans... Come on now... what's that thing you always say? _'A magician never reveals his secrets'._ Haha! I'm a regular Copperfield with all the secrets I got." Johnny paused for a moment and Sans could hear the shuffling of some paper. "But, as a show of good faith I will let you know he is not in the city, just to put your mind at ease. In fact he is in another state entirely. " 

Sans curled his fingers over his face as he steadied his breathing. He knew why Johnny was gaining all this info on him and it was really starting to piss him off, but for now he had to play his game. "I'll do this one job Johnny, but that's it. I am not working for you again..." 

"Yeah, alright Sansy! That's all I wanted. I know ya busy so lets meet up next week, Tuesday around noon.  We can meet up at the usual place..." 

"Fine." Sans said curtly and promptly hung up the phone. Sans sat there in silence as he ran over details in his head. He had been so careful or at least he thought he had and now Johnny had the upper hand... he knew her name and what she looked like and somehow had found someone that Sans had been searching for over a year now... That just shouldn't be possible.

"Another state?" He whispered to him self. No wonder he was having trouble finding this guy. "It's like he's running away this time..." 

____

 

Two shots, a beer and a bottle of ketchup later he was in the pub starring at the entrance to the lounge. He wanted to just ditch this whole deal, especially after that talk with Johnny but he had promised Grillby and Papyrus that he would be here for the grand opening. Plus he wanted to keep an eye on things and see if there were any of Johnny's people sniffing around which they undoubtedly were. Just one more fucking thing he had to worry about now. With a sigh he moved past the bouncers and sank into the back left corner of the lounge, not feeling like sitting up front with his brother. He felt more comfortable with his back to a wall and he also wanted to make sure he had an advantageous view of everything, just in case... 

Sans sank into his thoughts as he nursed another beer, a thousand things running through his mind. It was already a month and a half past the time that last, strange reset had happened. So many things were drastically different this time... It was so strange to actually see the vast changes a few simple... and not so simple choices could make. Time would only tell if it was all for the better however. 

The lights dimmed and a hush came over the crowd. Dread surged through him as he pulled out a cigarette. This was going to be torment. That spotlight hit her and she sparkled with beautiful life as she nervously smiled at the crowd. She looked amazing and Sans felt a sharp ache at his core. The red dress fit her so well that part of him wondered if she had been sewn into it. The band queued up and a moment later that beautiful angelic voice washed over the crowd. She really did belong up on a stage, singing her heart out for the world... but he couldn't help but feel a bit jealous. Before, she had only sang her songs for him...

But that was his fault... He had stayed out of her life this time and she was only in it now because of his own stupid mistakes. Of course, this is where things would have probably ended up, he wouldn't have kept her to him self forever. 

Sans downed the last of his beer and lit his smoke as he stared longingly at her. He missed her so damn much. Were things really better like this? Was he even doing the right thing by trying to keep her at arms length? He couldn't help but feel like he was bumbling through things and fucking things up for the worse. 

He took another long drag off his cigarette and his eyes locked with hers for a short, painful moment. If things were like before he wouldn't he sitting here, he would have been side stage, out of sight of the crowd but in just the right spot that she would be able to see him out of the corner of her eye. He would have bought flowers and slow danced with her in her dressing room between sets, like how they had slow danced on that roof on their first date which was also the first time she had sang for him... 

Sans let the smoke roll out past his lips as he pulled out his cell phone from his coat pocket. As the song wound down he took a picture of her glittering in that spotlight. He might be keeping her at a distance but he couldn't help but indulge him self a little. He was fine suffering in the background as long as she was safe. 

As the crowd roared with applause he set the picture as his cell phone's wallpaper. He had to allow him self these little indulgences if he was going to keep his sanity through this... 

The lighting changed and he sank down into his seat as he put his phone away and took another drag off his cigarette. The word 'Bluebird' passed her lips and Sans felt a sharp pain stab through him. "Shit..." He breathed out with a long plume of smoke. She had finished the song... He couldn't believe he was about to hear it in it's entirety. He had only caught little bits and pieces of it before. Little fleeting moments when he would walk into a room while she was singing parts of it to her self. She would never tell him what it was about but he already knew. He knew what every word meant and it was cutting through him like ice. 

Sans leaned over the table and buried his face in his hands, he couldn't bare to look at her. The sorrow in her voice, the weight of her words. He could see it all unfolding in such vivid detail. He couldn't take it. It made him feel so fucking helpless and he couldn't stand it... 

As she sang the last of the song he was gone, unable to hear another word of it. 


	11. Sleep Dance

[Florence + The Machine: Cosmic Love](https://youtu.be/2EIeUlvHAiM)

_"The stars, the moon, they have all been blown out_

_You left me in the dark_

_No dawn, no day, I'm always in this twilight_

_In the shadow of your heart"_

 

-You-

-September 10 2016-

 

 

 

 After getting some bottles of liquor from the bar that Sans had Grillby put on his tab, the four of you start the fifteenish minute walk home. Thanks to some pleading from Tess and Papyrus you end up singing for them part of the way home. The first song is a soft, sweet romantic song you heard a few months ago on the radio. Papyrus and Tess swoon over it but Sans actually seemed a bit upset by it. His eyes were dark and was so very intently looking to the side away from you as all of you walked onward. For some reason it made you feel a bit sad. If the two of you were better friends you would have side hugged him to try and get to laugh, but instead the two of you just awkwardly walked next to each other in silence after you stopped singing. 

Paps and Tess cheer and clap after you finish your song while they gush over you a bit, which causes you to blush. You were still not use to getting praise for your voice. However as the conversation shifted and Papyrus and Tess started to chat about some show you had never heard of before your mind wandered back to the conversation you had eavesdropped on earlier. What it all meant was just driving you crazy and was nagging at the back of your mind. You had a few ideas as to what he could have meant but each idea was just as crazy as the last.

Tess and Papyrus pull you from your thoughts as they beg you to sing another song, you happily comply since they want to sing along this time. No one is in tune with each other and they sing off key, but you loved it. They even tried to get Sans to sing along too but he just laughed it off, made bad jokes; like that he didn't have the lungs to sing and others of a similar caliber. You couldn't help but laugh as Papyrus groaned in disgust. 

At the skeleton brother's apartment you pulled off your backpack and set it on the couch. You had planned on going up to your apartment and washing your face and getting into some PJ's but Papyrus insisted that you just wear some of his or Sans instead. You agreed since Captain would be fine till it was breakfast time. You were a little surprised to find that Papyrus' and Sans' apartment was right under yours, but you dismissed it as pure coincidence. 

"I'm going to go wash my face." You say after you pull off your coat. Papyrus takes it from you and hangs it up on a coat rack.

"The bathroom is up the stairs on the right." Papyrus informs you. 

"I'll come with!" Tess says as she hands Papyrus her coat. 

The two of you go to the bathroom and Tess has a wickedly mischievous smile on her face. You get the sudden feeling that she is up to no good...

"Alright... why are you smiling like that?" You ask as soon as you close the bathroom door. 

Tess lets out a snort of a giggle. "Because Sans has got it for you bad." 

Blush rushes to your cheeks as you look at her in shock. "Wh-what?" 

"Oh man, you should see the way he looks at you when he think no one is looking. It is SO cute..." She was practically gushing like a hyper school girl as she spoke.

"Oh my sweet turtle dove, you have lost your damn mind..." You retort as you turn on the water in the sink, adjusting it to a nice warm temp. 

"HA! Probably, but that is besides the point." She muses. "If you ask me, I think you should go for it! The two of you together would be the cutest fuckin thing." She giggles again and lets out a dreamy sigh as if she was picturing it. "Plus... I took a sneaky peek at his phone when he was looking at it while we were walking and you are his wallpaper." 

"Tess!" You blush even brighter. "Why are you being a creeper and peeking at someones phone?"

"Because I am nosy." She teased. "The pic is of you in that amazing red dress you wore tonight." 

You splash water on your face before your blush could get any brighter. You remember you had seen him looking at his phone at one point, you thought he was just being rude and uninterested, but he had actually taken your picture? That was just... _'I've done this before.'_ Sans words from earlier echo through your mind and you shake your head. "That's just crazy..." You said more to your self than Tess; trying to dismiss the thought forming in your head.

Tess pulls out some make up cleaning face wipes out of her purse and hands them too you. "It's not crazy, I am telling you. That dumb boy is in it deep. You really should see how he looks at you... if I didn't know better I would say he was already in love, but that WOULD be crazy. I mean, the two of you did just meet, right?" 

"Yeah..." You reply as you think back to him shoving you out of the elevator. "Maybe he is just 'in lust'." You retort. His actions could easily taken like a guy who bullies the girl he likes because he doesn't know how to properly express him self.

Tess snorts. "No! Girl, I KNOW what lust looks like and that wasn't it, trust me... It was like he missed you." She leans against the wall as you start washing the makeup off your face. "It was kind of heart breaking really." 

You groan as you rinse your face. "I really think you are reading too much into this..." 

She shrugs. "Maybe I am, but my heart tells me I am right, so that is what I am rolling with." 

"Tess-" A knock at the door cuts you off and you flinch a little. You grab a towel, dry off your face and open the door expecting to see Papyrus but instead find your self face to face with Sans. "Oh-" You clench your jaw tightly as you struggle to not blush at the mere sight of him. You pray that he hadn't been standing there long to hear any thing through the door. 

"Here are some clothes you two can sleep in." He says as he hands you stack of neatly folded clothing. Your hands brush against each others as you take them from him and it sends a giddy spark straight through you. "Thanks!" You quickly say and close the door as fast as you can before he can see you blush. You just stand there for a moment till you hear the floor boards creak as he walks away. You let out a breath and glare at your friend. "This is your fault... putting weird thoughts in my head." 

Tess sticks out her tongue and giggles. 

You groan and set the stack of clothes on the counter by the sink. The two of you get dressed together. You pull on a soft, well worn white t-shirt that had a cute drawing of a dog in a lab coat that said 'Trust me, I'm a dogtor.' around it and a pair of PJ pants that had race cars all over them. The pants were a bit snug in the waist and the legs went past your feet, but it wasn't nothing you couldn't handle. Tess put on a yellow t-shirt with a hula girl on it and a pair of light blue PJ pants with snow flakes all over them.

"Seasonal." You tease as you use Tess' hair brush he had in her purse to brush out your hair and put it into a braid. 

She giggles and pokes your sides. "And you look cute as a button." 

"Ugh, stop it." You grumble in protest.

The two of you leave the bathroom and you shove your clothes into your backpack as Sans walks down the stairs in a pair of black lounge pants with a white stripe down the side and a grey t-shirt with a black rib cage in the shape of a heart on it and a pair of pink slippers on his feet. It was so cute.

You blush at your own thoughts and quickly turn around so he can't see you blush yet again. "Get a hold of your self dummy..." You say to your self under your breath.

"Oh man Papyrus, you look stylin!" Tess said and you look over your shoulder to see Papyrus walking down the stairs in a bright pink shirt with the words 'wild child' in bright blue letters on it and a pair of yellow PJ pants with bright orange basketballs all over them. He was as colorful as a crayola box. You can't help but smile. Papyrus really was the cutest cinnamon bun you had ever met. 

 "THANKS!" Papyrus said gleefully. 

"Lets get this slumber party underway!" Tess said as she stretched her arms up into the air. "Let me show you how to give someone blue balls Papyrus!" 

"OH BOY!"

" _MAKE_ someone blue balls..." You corrected. "Godzilla save me..." You sigh as you plop down onto the couch. You hadn't realized that Sans has already sat down on the couch, unintentionally sat down right next to him and tensed up. The awkward tension between the two of you was instant. You scoot over a bit and clear your throat. Even though you can hear Papyrus and Tess chit chatting in the kitchen things feel painfully quiet. 

 _"I've done this before."_   Echos through your mind again. "So!" You blurt out just so you wont say what is actually on your mind. "Um... did... you see me perform at the pub?" You ask awkwardly. You knew he did, and he knew that you knew so asking was kind of dumb and yet it still came out of your mouth. _'Great job me.'_  

There was another awkward silence between the two of you that felt like it was lasting for a bazillion minutes. "I did." Of course, that was the answer you were expecting. Another short, quiet moment passed. "You were like a dream." He said quietly. 

Sans blushed a soft blue like he hadn't actually meant to say that out loud and you almost choke on your own tongue from shock. You were expecting some snarky joke, or even a backhanded comment but instead got sweet honesty. You felt flustered, short of breath and suddenly very aware just how close to him you were. Maybe Tess did know what she was talking about...

"Alright kids, lets put some blue balls in our mouths!" Tess said as she walked back into the living room with a tray of bright blue colored shots and Papyrus came in behind her with four beers and a tub of popcorn. 

"Great googly moogly..." You exclaim as she sets the tray down on the coffee table. "That is a lot of shots..." You take the chance to slide off the couch and sit on the floor next to the coffee table; just wanting to put a bit of distance between you and Sans right now. "How drunk are you planning on getting Tess?" You ask as Papyrus sets down the beer and popcorn and also takes a seat on the floor in front of the coffee table.

"Drunk enough my sweet princess." Tess says as she gives you a mischievous wink. "And so are you!" 

"Wha- Tess, I will drink but I don't want to get drunk... I do still have to sing tomorrow night ya know..." You quickly retort.

Tess just snorts as she also takes a seat on the floor by the coffee table. "Oh my sweet love, do not worry. I will make sure you are in tip top shape to sing tomorrow, but tonight my best friend in the whole god damned rotten world got to live her dream and sing in front of a crowd and it was amazing and she looked amazing and now we have to celebrate!" She picks up a shot and knocks it back. "CHEERS!" She exclaims as she smacks the now empty glass down onto the table.

You sigh and smile. "You are suppose to say cheers before you drink ya know..." 

"Yo, fuck the rules, alright?" She says with a cheeky grin. "I said it and that's want counts." 

"Are you really a princess?" Papyrus asks as he picks up a shot. 

Tess snorts and your eyes go wide for a moment having forgotten for a moment that Tess had called you that. "Heh, no, it's just a-"

"Term of endearment?" He finishes for you.

"Yeah." You smile and nod.

"Come on sour bones..." Tess says as she tugs on Sans' pant leg. "Come down from on high and sit with us commoners." 

He complies and slides down onto the floor next to you and you are once again with in close proximity of him. Close enough that his hand brushes against your leg as he sits cross legged. You let out a short breath and quickly down your shot so that at least this time your blush could be blamed on the drink.

"Bleh, oh my shrieking Godzilla that is so sweet..." You grunt out as you set the now empty shot glass down.

"IT'S DELICIOUS!" Papyrus said warmly as he picked up another shot. 

"Just pace your self Papyrus." Sans added as Papyrus downed his second shot.

"You know... you guys have a lot of shot glasses." You say as you realize just how many shot glasses are on the tray. "And why use all of them? Couldn't you have just brought out something to pour it out of or-"

"No, blue balls are made by each shot, not in a pitcher or a blender, it's just more convenient this way!" Tess added.

"We have a fully stocked bar!" Papyrus answered as he opened his beer with a bottle opener. 

"Oh." You reply.

"I read somewhere that you needed one to have a successful dinner party, so Sans got me one." Papyrus added. 

You and Tess look at each other for a moment. "Dinner parties?" You ask.

"Nyeh heh, yeah... I probably wont have any though..." Papyrus replies as he started to pick at the label of his beer.

"What?" You look at Sans for a quick moment. "Why?" You and Tess ask in unison.

Papyrus fidgeted a bit more with is beer and shifted around a bit nervously. "Nyeh, w-well, I wanted to cook for them but... I'm... not a very good cook." He answered. He looked absolutely heart broken and just seeing that look on his face broke yours. 

"Pap-" You started.

"SO WHAT!" Tess chimed in, cutting you off. "Papyrus, sweetheart, my sweet precious cinnamon roll, being bad at something is the first step to being good at it! All it takes is practice!" 

"Nyeh... but..." He stammered.

"NO BUTS!" Tess added and smacked her hand on the table. "You want to be a chef? Then so be it! The four of us will all take cooking classes together and before you know it you will be blowing four star chefs right out of the water!" 

"Me?!" You and Sans say together. You both look at each other for a short moment.

"Yeah, 'me'. Theo, my sweet jelly bean, I hate to tell you this but your cooking is not great." Tess huffed out.

You scoff. "What!? That's... I'm not that horrible.... I-it's passable..." You stammer.

"More like barely eatable..." She shoots at you with a glare.

"Aw..." You whine. "I didn't think it was that bad..."

"And you, Mr sand in my pants, you should just be there for brotherly, moral support." Tess adds with a nod. "And I guess we shall see if you are a good cook or not." She snaps at him and downs another shot.

"Heh... alright..." Sans picks up a shot and looks over at his brother. "What do you think Paps?" 

A soft blush comes to Papyrus' cheeks as he gives everyone a warm smile. "That does sound like a lot of fun!" 

"Alright, cooking buddies then." You say as all four of you pick up a shot and clink them together. "Cooking buddies!" You all say together and down your shots. 

"Man... that is really sweet..." Sans protests as he sets down his empty glass. 

"Right?" You agree as you grab a beer. Papyrus opens it for you and you take a drink only to find that it too is sweet and surprisingly fruity. You stick out your tongue as you look at the label only to find that it is an apricot beer. "I had no idea beer could be sweet or fruity." At least it wasn't as sweet as the shots. 

"It's my favorite!" Papyrus said in a bubbly tone. You had to wonder if he was already getting tipsy. He seemed a lot more giggly and blushy than usual.

"It's just a hoptical illusion. You think it's beer when really its more like hopy juice." Sans adds with a sly grin.

Papyrus and Tess groan but you laugh.  "You saw the hoppertunity and just had to take it." You retort. 

"Don't!" Papyrus groaned. "You will only encourage him..." 

"That was hop notch." Sans replied, an even bigger smirk on his face. 

"I have a few more brewing to get out." You reply back.

"NO!" Papyrus groaned as he rolled his head back in disgust. "That was horrible!" 

"Papyrus just needs to chill stout." Sans chuckles out.

Papyrus and Tess both roll their eyes and you let out a roaring laugh only to recoil when Papyrus lets out a shocked gasp. Your had to be getting tipsy because you laughed hard enough to show your teeth and now your secret was out.

"Your teeth..." Papyrus said in an hushed, shocked tone. You suddenly find a skeleton finger in your mouth pushing your upper lip back to more prominently expose your strange teeth. "Why do they look like that?!" Papyrus asked.

You blush and pull your face away from Papyrus' intruding finger. You lick your tongue over the pointed edges of your four large upper canines and down over the predominate lower canines, though they weren't as large as the ones on your uppers. "I... I don't know why they are like that..." You confess. 

"Oh..." Papyrus gave you a confused, worried look. 

You give him a wave wanting to dismiss his worry. "It's okay... That's why I am always careful when I smile, or laugh, or sing to not show my teeth... It's just... hard to explain when you your self don't even know the reason." 

Tess gives you a comforting look, she already knew about them and you smile back at her. 

"I see... that would be frustrating... but I don't think you should hide them just to avoid the conversation. You should smile and laugh and sing how you want!" Papyrus said cheerfully. "They give your face a lot of character!" 

You give him a surprised look and subconsciously lick your teeth again. "I suppose..." 

"I agree Papyrus!" Tess said with a cheer's motion towards him with her own beer. "I think they make her look even cuter." 

You chuckle at their compliments as you look over at Sans and it dons on you that Sans didn't seem surprised by your teeth at all. He notices you looking at him and gives you a tired smile. You quickly look away and take another drink of your beer as you try not to think about how weirdly mysterious Sans was. 

"How about we watch a movie?" Sans suggested, making you wonder if he was saving you from the subject of your teeth. 

"NO!" Tess exclaimed as she suddenly stood up. "I saw you have one of those fancy game consoles with the motion sensors and that Dance Trance game. Lets do more shots, of course and have a dance off!" 

"Oh no..." Sans groaned.

"OH YES!" Papyrus exclaimed. 

You just groan and down the last of your fruity beer. Dancing was not your forte. A lot of things weren't your forte, but seeing Papyrus dance around would probably be really entertaining. After discarding empty beer bottles, you walk back over to the table and help Sans carefully move the coffee table so that there is enough space to dance and not make a mess, while Papyrus set up the game. 

"Alright! It has a vs. mode. Perfect!" Tess exclaimed. "You and me Papyrus, lets go!" She says with a giggle as she shadow boxes playfully at him. 

"NYEH HEH HEH HEH! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL NOT FAIL!" He said as he posed dramatically. 

You snort out a giggle. "That was amazing." You say as you give him an encouraging clap. "You already win in my book." 

"HEY! You are suppose to cheer for me, you traitor!" Tess quickly retorts. 

You throw you hands up in surrender and sit back down on the couch. Sans sits down next to you as he hands you another beer. "This should be good." You say and the two of you clink your beers together. 

Things get quiet between the two of you again as Tess and Papyrus go over what song they want to dance too. You nurse your beer as you try and think of something to talk about that wasn't the actual thing you wanted to talk about.

"What does a car do at a disco?" Sans asked, breaking the silence between the two of you right as Papyrus and Tess start to dance with the game.

"What?" You reply. The sudden question throwing you off your own train of thought. 

"What does a car do at a disco?" He repeats.

"... I don't know..." You answer.

"Brake dance." He answers with a smirk.

You snort out a laugh. "Horrible." 

"SANS!" Papyrus yelled as he stumbled through a dance move. "DON'T PLAGUE ME WITH YOUR HORRIBLE PUNS, I AM TRYING TO FOCUS!" 

You and Sans look at each other and wicked, toothy grins cross both your faces. 

"Sans..." You say.

"Hmm?" He replies.

"How do hens dance?" You ask.

"I don't know, how do hens dance?" He asks in return. 

"Chick to chick." You answer and Sans chokes out a laugh. 

"THAT WAS AWFUL!" Papyrus cries out.

"You mean a fowl?" You retort.

"Oh, MY god! You two are the worst!" Tess groans. The game spouted out negative responses as the both of them keep missing their dance queues. 

"I use to be addicted to the hokie pokie, but I turned my self around." Sans says through a laugh.

"NO!" Papyrus pleads.

You laugh hard enough that your sides start to hurt a bit. You set your beer down on the table, worried you are going to spill it from laughing so much. 

"What kind of dance does a bun do?" Sans continues on.

"Don't." Papyrus warns.

"What?" You ask defiantly. 

"Abundance." He answers. 

"NYEH!" 

You and Sans both start laughing hard enough to cry. 

"Oh, you dirty cheaters!" Tess exclaims. "Lets get these suckers Papyrus." 

"YEAH!" He agrees.

The two run over and grab some pillows off the couch and start beating both you and Sans with them. 

"Wha! No fair!" You cry out through your laughter as you are pummeled with pillows. You and Sans are both laughing so hard that all you can do is put your arms up in a weak defense. 

"We surrender!" You shout.

"We give up!" Sans pleads. Both of you laughing like school kids who had just heard their teacher fart. 

The two give up and plop down onto the couch, forcing you to sit so close to Sans that you were pressed right up against his side. He let out a soft, pleased sound that made your heart flutter. Thankfully you were already blushing from laughing so much so at least you didn't have to worry about that.

"More shots!" Tess says and promptly hands everyone another. 

You down the shot and let out another 'bleh'. You were definitely feeling tipsy now. 

"Alright you shit poor pun masters, it's your turn." Tess says with a firm nod. "Lets see just how good the two of you do." 

You groan and reluctantly get up off the couch. "I shall give it my everything but promise nothing!" You state.

Sans gets up as well and follows you over to the open space in the living room in front of the large TV. You stretch your arms up over your head as you get ready to make a complete ass of your self. "Hope you're ready to go down in flames, Salty." You say, teasingly challenging him. "My dance moves are so bad they will put you to shame..." 

"Salty?" He repeats. "Heh, yeah, I deserve that." He adds with a chuckle. "Don't think I am going to go easy on you kitten, I'll have you know my horrible dance moves are nationally ranked." 

"Oh you are on, bone brain." You retort.

The both of you decide to let the game choose a song randomly and much to your dismay one of the more obnoxious pop songs that have come out in the last few months queues up on the screen.

"Oh christ, this is going to be a disaster..." You groan.

The two colorful characters on the screen start moving and you do your best to match them. 'Fail.' 'Miss.' 'Awful.' 'Bad.' started rolling out of the TV, but thankfully it was for Sans as well as he was doing just as bad as you were.

"Ha! You call those dance moves? I'm starting to think you have two left feet!" You tease right has you finally get one 'good.' and an 'excellent' soon after. "HAHA!" You cheer and throw your arms up in praise for your self causing you to get several more bad critiques from the game. "Shit..." 

"Way to celebrate before you even win." Sans taunts you. 

"At least I got a few goods in there!" You retort. 

"Boo, you guys suck!" Tess mocks from the couch and you feel some popcorn hit your back. 

"Tsk, you guys can mock us all you want. It wont make us any worse than we already are." You confidently retort.

"Mmhmm..." You hear Tess hum out. "So um, Papyrus, sweet pea. Do you know why these shots are called blue balls?" She asks.

You hear Sans make a stressed noise and look over to see a bead of sweat form on his forehead. 

"No! I honestly have no idea." Papyrus answered honestly. "You didn't use any balls of any kind to make it. It's really confusing..." 

Tess lets out a hum of a wicked laugh. 

"Oh shit..." You breath out. You can practically hear the window of innocence shatter.

"Well, let me explain it to you honey pie. It's an expression humans use for when-" 

"Don't..." Sans breathed out, sounding rather distressed.

Tess clears her throat and continues on anyway. "For when human males get a hard on and can't relieve it so their balls swell up and get kind of blue looking, and well, the drink is a play on that so you say something kinda of dirty when requesting it, like a joke!"

Sans chokes on some words you can't understand and wobbles on his feet. You fight back a laugh.

"OH..." Papyrus exclaims.

"You do know what a hard on is I am hoping or do I need to explain that to?" Tess asks.

"TESS!" Sans warns.

"I think I know." Papyrus answers. "Sans has those almost every morning..." 

You let out the loudest snort.

"THAT'S NOT- HE IS THINKING HANG OVERS!" Sans quickly retorts. The brightest blush you have seen yet on his face.

"Oh..." Papyrus adds and scratches his head. "Then what was it you were using on that girl in the elevator at the bank that one time?" Papyrus asks point blank.

You and Tess both gasp. 

"Sans you dog!" Tess exclaims. 

"TH-THAT WASN'T-" Sans quickly moves to turn around and face them but trips over his own feet and ends up falling into you and the both of you topple to the floor. 

You suddenly find your self in a very intimate position with him, his face achingly close to yours and his hips between your legs. You feel your heart leap into your throat as you catch him gazing at you longingly for a moment. Like, even though he had just been caught in an embarrassing moment he wanted nothing more than to kiss you. You swore you could almost see his desire to do it burning behind the soft purple magical irises he had for eyes. 

You hear Papyrus and Tess giggling to each other from the couch and hear the tell tale noise of a camera click knowing very well that Tess had just taken a sneaky pic of the situation. You put your hand on his chest and gently push him back, he takes the hint and quickly gets up off of you. He helps you to your feet and you let out a soft noise as you smooth your hands down over the front of the shirt you were wearing. The weird sexual tension forming between you and Sans felt confusing but also exciting which just made you feel even more confused. It was a vicious cycle.

"Sorry..." He said softly. 

"S'okay." You reply even more softly. 

"Well, I am ready to dance again, how about you Papyrus?" Tess asks with a clap of her hands. You noting the hint of smug, victorious pride in her tone.

"Of course!" He answers with a bubbly smile. "Maybe this time we wont be cheated out of a victory!" 

Tess laughs and you sigh in defeat. "To the victor go the spoils." You say as you plop back down on the couch. 

Tess and Papyrus work their way through another song and do amazingly well, way better than you could ever hope to be in a dancing game. A few songs and five shots later the dance game comes to an end as Papyrus is now completely smashed and far to giggly to even stand up right. It was super cute to see just what a lovable dork he was when he got drunk. After gathering up every pillow and blanket the two brothers have in their apartment the four of you make a sort of pillow fort and hunker down to watch a movie. Papyrus picked out the first 'The Fast and the Furious' movie to watch which you found amusing that he loved those movies, they always seemed rather corny to you but it was easy to see why Papyrus liked them. Sans on the other hand must not have cared very much for them because just twenty minutes into the movie he passed out on couch, though it could have just been pure exhaustion taking over. Sans did look absolutely tired all the time. Then about thirty minutes after that Papyrus and Tess conk out while snuggled up on either side of you, using your boobs for pillows. 

It was cute, but not very comfortable.

As carefully as you could, you weasel your way out of the snuggle pile and up off the pile of pillows the three of you had been sitting on. Once free and sure they hadn't woken up you grab a couple blankets and cover the two of them up. "Sleep sweet you dorks." You somewhat slur out and realize just how tipsy you are. "Ugh, tomorrow is going to be a real test of will." You whisper to your self as you turn off the TV. You grab another blanket to put over Sans. He was a mystery and a jerk but he looked cold and didn't want the salty bone brain to suffer all night just because he didn't have a blanket. Sighing at your self for being a big softy, you fluff out the blanket over the top of him put pause when you notice that he is sweating and making soft, pained noises like he is having a nightmare. With out really thinking about it you bent down over him, put your hand on his forehead and made some soft humming noises in hopes of soothing him. It was more of a force of habit than anything. 

Feeling a spark of curiosity you gently trace your fingers over the strange, straight crack that starts at the top of his left eye and trails up over the top of his skull where it branches out a little bit. It was such a strange marking, and Papyrus had one just like it. It made you wonder if they were twins or something, though they didn't really seem as such.

You let out a gasp and flinch when Sans suddenly grabbed your wrist. For a moment you think you had woke him up but instead he pulls your hand down to his cheek and lets out a longing sigh, his eyes still closed. "I'm sorry." He breathed out, his voice strained. "Please don't leave me again..." 

Your heart skips a beat. Maybe this was your chance to get some answers. "What do you mean by that?" You ask in a pleading whisper as you move in a bit closer to him. 

You get no answer and instead he pulls you onto the couch with him and snuggles you into a tight hug. Your body tensed and you stifled a surprised squeal. It was sobering experience to say the least. "H-hey..." You whisper as you put your hands on his chest again. He was so surprisingly warm. Not what you were expecting at all... You really had to wonder how he generated heat.

"I'll keep you safe this time..." He whispered as he nuzzled his face into the crook of your neck. 

"Sans..." You breathe out. "You are so confusing..." 

"I know..." He sleepily replies. 

You tense up again, thinking he had woke up for sure but things just go silent once more and all you can hear are the soft noises of sleepy people breathing. After a moment you try to squirm free but Sans only hugs you more tightly and is practically lying on top of you now. You let out a flustered groan, you could easily just kick him off if you really wanted too but he felt so nice and he was way more snugly than you were expecting. He smelled so good too, like lavender and honey with a hint of apricot beer

If you were being perfectly honest with your self, you didn't want to move.

"Alright you salty weirdo... just this one time..." You whisper to him. "Don't let it go to your boney head..." 


	12. Quiet Rush

[Hellberg: I'm not over](https://youtu.be/7djAdK3HAuk)

_"Cause nothings ever what it seems_

_Took to much to fight_

_No wonder we crashed_

_And you threw all the parts away_

_You left me searching"_

 

-You-

-September 13 2016-

 

It was a especially crisp Tuesday morning; your first day off since starting your job at the pub. Breakfast was done, Captain was fed and happily snoozing on the couch and you were getting ready to go out for a bit of a long walk to your old neighborhood. You put your hair in a bun, put on your favorite pair of jeans, simple white undershirt, cozy light blue knit sweater, and your hooded coat with the hood that had the cat ears on it. Just as you were about to pull on a knit cap your phone beeped and vibrated on the table signaling that you had gotten a text. 

You pull on your hat and check your phone.

'Cinnamon Bun'

"Want to go out for breakfast with me?" It read.

"Already ate, about to go out for a walk." You reply.

"Oh." You got a short moment later.

You think about inviting him along but you're not so sure he would be up for going on such a long walk or being out in the cold for that long... Well, it wouldn't hurt to at least ask. Besides it would be nice to have some company if he did actually want to go.

"It's going to be a long walk but if you want to, you can come with me." You reply.

"I WOULD LOVE TO!" Papyrus answered.

"Great, meet cha at your door in a few minutes." You reply.

After putting a couple toys you bought into your backpack you slip it on, lock up your apartment and go to meet Papyrus down stairs. Before you can even knock on the door the door swings open and an energetic Papyrus pops out. He was all bundled up in a dark blue pea coat, his bright red scarf and a grey and black ushanka style hat on. He looked cute. 

"Wow, you got ready fast." You say with a bright, toothy smile. "Good morning!" 

"I was already dressed!" He replied gleefully. "I just really want to get out of the apartment for a bit." 

You tilt your head and gave him a concerned look. "Everything okay?" 

"YES! everything is great. Just... feeling restless I guess." He answers.

"Ah, I can understand that." You say as he closes and locks his door.

"I can't help but feel lonely when I am home by myself." Papyrus sighed. 

"Oh, I see. Sans at work or something?" You asked... not that you really cared what he was up too or anything. And not like things were super awkward between the two of you after waking up in each other's arms during the sleepover, or that part of you was super eager to see him and another part still wanted to punch him in the face... or anything...

"Nyeh... I think so... He just said he was going to be gone all day and possibly tomorrow too." He answered. "I don't really know what Sans does for work so, it might be job related but I am not sure." 

"Oh..." That was weird and mysterious. You wondered just what Sans would do for work that he wouldn't tell his brother about... and what could possibly keep him out for possibly two full days? Strange to say the least.

"Nyeh heh heh... so I uh made you something." Papyrus said a bit nervously and you finally realized he had been hiding a hand behind his back this whole time.

"What?! Papyrus, you didn't have to do that..." You reply.

"I know I didn't but I wanted to!" He pulled his hand out from behind his back and bashfully handed you a yellow plush fleece scarf that had a white kitty cat paw print pattern all over it. It was adorable and you bundled it up around your neck right away. 

"Aw, Papyrus, this is amazing! I love it." You gush as you snuggle your chin against the soft material. 

"It's a thank you present..." He added.

"Eh? For what?" You asked as the two of you started walking to the elevator. "I haven't done anything special." 

"I got a job, and it's all thanks to you!" Papyrus answered. 

You stop in your tracks and let out a gasp. "What? Where?!" How on earth you helped with that you had no idea.

"Brass Buttons." He answered, a soft blush on his cheeks. "I start next week! Nyeh heh." 

You let out a giddy squee and clapped your hands in excitement. "Kevin hired you?!" You exclaim in excited delight. You couldn't think of a more perfect place for Papyrus to work at. "What are you going to do there?" You ask. 

"Assistant, apprentice and occasional model..." He answers as the two of you make the short walk to the elevator. 

"Oh wow, that is a lot." You reply.

"Nyeh heh, not really... I don't think..." He retorted a bit nervously, obviously unsure of his own answer. 

"Apprentice and model, hmm? Sounds like you are going to learn all of Kevin's secrets." You say teasingly.

"HOPEFULLY!" He answers with a sort chuckle. "I WOULD LIKE TO BE BETTER AT SEWING!" 

You smile and laugh. Papyrus was just too cute some times.

After the two of you leave the building things become quiet for a bit. Both of you contemplating things for sure. Papyrus likely thinking about his new job and you thinking almost tortuously about snuggling with a tipsy Sans on the couch during the sleep over and how awkward it was for both of you when you woke up in each other's arms, the cute way he had stammered and blushed as he stared at you. It was just baffling how easy it was to get comfortable with him. Even in spite of his earlier douche beggary. You just couldn't deny how nice it felt to be close to him. You couldn't hardly believe that you were actually thinking about maybe making more of this and seeing where it would take you.

"So where are we walking too?" Papyrus asked, breaking the silence.

"Oh!" You say, realizing you hadn't actually told him yet. "My old Neighborhood." You answer. "I try to go there every week to check up on some friends." Though, admittedly you didn't go last week which you felt a bit guilty about, but with starting your new job and just the stress from it alone things were just a bit to crazy to make time for it.

"WOWIE!" He exclaimed. "That is so sweet of you!" 

"Heh, I suppose." In all honesty you were really going there to make sure a certain group of fuck boys were behaving themselves. It was important that they still knew that you were around to kick their asses if they decided to be shit heads again.

"Where is your old neighborhood at?" He asked. 

"Over in Willow View, on the east side of town." You answer.

Papyrus stops in his tracks and gives you a wide eyed stare. "But that is easily an hour to two hour walk from here..." He responds. 

"An hour and thirtyish minutes." You retort as you stop and look at him. "I did say it was a long walk..." 

"But... Why can't I just drive us there?! It would be so much faster..." He asks in dismay. 

"Uh..." You realize you had not explained your whole car phobia to him yet. "I um... don't handle riding in cars to well..." You dryly explain. Cars and driving an awkward topic for you, as it was just hard to explain the reasons for the fear behind it.

"What?! Why?" He inquires. "Cars are so much fun!"

"Uh..." You avert your gaze and rub your neck. So very unsure how to answer. "It's a phobia... They're terrifying... to some people..." You try to explain, hoping that he would just drop it.

"Phobia?! You're afraid?" He exclaims loudly and you can't help but blush in embarrassment. Having your weaknesses broadcasted was not really what you were hoping for either. Papyrus grips your shoulders tightly and leans his face in almost intimately close to yours, for a moment you think he is going to kiss you. You can't help but blush to your ears from the sudden closeness. "That breaks my heart; what possibly could have happened that made you so afraid of something as wonderful as cars?" His words tender and the concern so clear in his tone.

"P-Papyrus..." You step backward and hide half of your blushing face into your cozy scarf. You tried to figure out how to answer him with out going into another subject you so dearly wanted to avoid. You sigh and your shoulders slump. You could only think of one way but you only hoped that it would work. "Papyrus... If I told you it wasn't my fear... would you leave it at that and just drop this subject, for now at least...?" 

Papyrus pulled back and gave you a confused look, which you expected. "But... that's so confusing. How can you have someone else's fear?" 

You groan and hug your arms around yourself. "Please don't make me explain it... I don't want to talk about it." Especially not outside in the open like this, that was for sure...

Papyrus starts to say something but just puts his hands on his hips and sighs instead. "Alright..." He says, reluctantly letting the subject drop. 

You both start walking again, though things are a bit awkward now. "If you want to go back home, it would be alright. You don't have to walk with me Paps." 

"NO!" He shouted in response, making a woman who was walking past jump in fright. Papyrus clears his throat and blushes. "I still want to go with you. I'm sorry for prying." 

You let out a soft, worried chuckle. "Don't be sorry." You start. "It's just... a complicated subject and I would rather it happened somewhere private and not while we are out on a walk were anyone could listen in." It sounded paranoid but you had good reason to be. You just hoped he would accept that. 

"Oh... oh, okay. We can talk about it later then!" Papyrus responded, visibly perking up again. He puts an arm around your shoulder and the two of you happily walk down the sidewalk together. "An hour and a half walk will do us good... probably..." He added.

"Well, technically, three-ish hours. Because, ya know, we have to walk back too." You say with a dry chuckle, hoping that wasn't too discouraging for him.

"R-right... Nyeh heh..." He sighs and squeezes your shoulder. 

Your mind wanders for a moment as several questions race through your mind that you had been wanting ask Papyrus. You were a bit worried they might be a bit too personal or awkward but this was as good of a time to ask as any. "So um, Papyrus. Can I ask you something?" 

"OF COURSE!" He answered cheerfully. "I would love for us to get to know each other better!" 

"Heh. I would like that too." You smile at him. "Um, I've notice a thing you tend to do... and I was curious about it." You start. "When you are excited or annoyed, I've noticed that you tend to stop yourself... especially around Sans and I was just wondering why..." You ask as you look up at his face, noticing a pained look in his eyes. "Is everything okay with you two?" You add.

Papyrus stays quiet for a moment and you start to worry that you had asked something too personal. "Ah... Paps, you don't have to an-" 

"Sans and I are fine..." He starts, cutting you off. "Not the best but okay. I just... feel guilty." He answers in a soft tone.

"What? Guilty?" You retort. "What could you possibly feel guilty about?!"

Papyrus hugs your shoulder a little tighter and sighs. "When he and I lived in Snowdin, underground I was... really oblivious, and stupidly happy. I had always thought that Sans was a lazy sack of bones, never really putting in any effort into anything, but in truth he was working harder than anyone was." He groans. "He still is too. That's why he always looks so tired all the time." Papyrus lets out a worried sigh and stays quiet for a moment. You know he isn't finished yet so you stay quiet as well, ready to listen to the rest while soaking in what he had said. "I would chew him out all the time... I was so hard on him when the whole time he had been going through so much." His voice falters for a moment and your heart lurches. "I am the worst brother... Sans had been suffering alone for so long and I was too blindly ignorant to see it..." His trembling bony hand covers his face.

"P-Paps!" You gasp and quickly pull him into a side alley out sight of the mild fall public walking down the sidewalks. Papyrus braced himself against a brick wall and buried his face in his hands while you fretted over him, totally unsure what to even do. Feeling like a total ass for unintentionally bringing up something so sensitive. "You're a good brother! Please don't think that you aren't..."

"BUT I AM! I'M TERRIBLE" He quickly blurts out. "I THOUGHT THINGS WOULD BE DIFFERENT HERE! BUT HE STILL INFURIATES ME! IT'S SO HARD TO NOT CHEW HIM OUT FOR HIS HORRIBLE BEHAVIORS..." He adds, tears streaming down his angry looking face. It was a conflicting look.

"Uh..." That was not what you were expecting to hear. 

"He STILL leaves his damned socks everywhere, and has horrible eating habits, drinks too much, hangs out with ill reputed woman, he barely sleeps, he's still keeping secrets from me..." Papyrus sniffles and wipes off his face with his sleeve. "I want to chew him out like I use too... but I just can't. He does so much for us... for everyone... it wouldn't be fair."

You stare at him for a long moment as your sweet, somewhat angry cinnamon bun rubbed the tears from his eyes. "Heh, well fuck that!" You state plainly and he blinks at you in surprise. "You should kick his ass Papyrus." You add and think about it for a second. "Well, verbally kick his ass I mean... or well, maybe a soft kick to his rear bones would do him some good too, but what I am getting at is that I think you should totally still chew him out!"

He stares at you intently, looking slightly conflicted. "But..." 

"Look, I have no idea what you or Sans went through, or how Sans was suffering alone, but if you use to chew him out and don't anymore, well I think you should. Knowing him, he probably misses it... I mean, you obviously care about him and I think not standing by while he is doing potential harm to himself is a good thing." 

"Yeah?" Papyrus pushes away from the wall and rubs his hands together a bit nervously. "I still don't know..." 

You sigh lovingly at him and take hold of his hands. "My dear sweet sugar plum, I know that guilt can be a really hard emotion to tackle but from what I can tell I think you can use it to become better. You feel bad that you were oblivious to past things? Well, you aren't oblivious anymore and you can see his pain and depression loud and clear, so use that new, clear vision and do something about it! Because just standing by and letting it happen is even worse than being oblivious to it." You keep hold of his left hand and lead him back out of the alley now that he wasn't so emotional anymore. "Chewing someone out for the dumb shit they do is a good way to show that you care." 

Papyrus stops, pulls on your hand and tugs you into a tight, warm hug. "Thanks..." He whispers. "I haven't been able to talk to anyone about this... it felt really good to get it out..." 

You smile and happily hug him back. "I'm always willing to listen to anything you want to get off your chest, okay?"

"Okay!" He pulled back and lovingly nuzzled his face against yours, giving you skeleton smooches all over your cheeks. 

"Ugh! Stop it you nerd!" You giggle out in teasing protest. 

A woman walking by lets out a disgusted noise and glares daggers at you and the overly affectionate Papyrus. "That is so gross! Letting that... THING get close to you like that in public... So, ugh, nasty!" She snaps at you. 

"Hey, fuc-" You start but Papyrus cuts you off.

"Why don't you take your judgmental opinion and go fuck your stuck up ass with it." He snaps at her and your jaw drops open in shock. She scoffs but Papyrus just ignores her, puts his arm back around your shoulder and walks you down the sidewalk away from her. 

"Holy crackers Papyrus..." You exclaim with a giggle. 

"Did I use fuck right?" He asked with a quiet chuckle. 

"Yeah buddy... you sure did." You laugh.

"Oh good..." He squeezes your shoulder and the two of you giggle as you walk. "I haven't ever really used swear words before... not like that at least."

"Heh, oh man, I do... I tend to cuss like a sailor..." You confess.

"I'VE NOTICED! NYEH HEH." He retorted and you giggle.  

"Ugh, I hope my fowl language us not becoming a bad influence on you..." You groan.

"I actually heard Tess use that line before." He retorts, probably hoping to spare you some guilt. 

"Of course you did..." You laugh in response.

The two of you walk for a bit, things feel calm again and you feel the urge to ask him another question. "So... um, can I ask you something else?" You ask a bit tentatively. 

"YES!" He hesitates for a moment. "I PROMISE I WONT CRY THIS TIME... Probably..." 

"Heh, well, I was curious about what your life was like in the mountain. Can you tell me about it?" You ask in a hopeful tone.

"OH! Yes! It was great!... sort of... Well, no, it wasn't great. Everything was just set up to seem like things were good when everyone was actually miserable. Of course I didn't really realize that till... after... hmm..." He says something under his breath and moves his arm off your shoulder and just holds your hand instead. He goes on to tell you about the house that he and Sans lived in and how he misses it, and about the shops and the misspelled library, how Jimmy, the wolf monster that works in the lobby of the apartment building use to toss ice in the river to cool the core. He talked about Undyne and the royal guard, and about Alphys and her lab. He also told you about her experiments and the amalgamates which sent a cold shiver down your spine, that was... a little to close to home and it made you feel uneasy. He briefly talked about Mettaton but changed the subject as quick as he could. He talked about waterfall and the echo flowers, about what Grillby's was like and how Sans spent tons of time there. As Papyrus started to talk about the king and queen he trailed off and another pained look crossed his face.

"Ah... hmm. Actually I don't want to talk about them... mind if I ask you some stuff instead?" He asks. 

"Oh, sure! Ask away." You answer. You figured that was fair since he had spent a good chunk of time telling you about the underground.

"It's been brought to my attention that your name is unusual... for a girl... I mean... I really had no idea that names could even have a gender... but I heard some people talking about it at the pub and I wanted to... stand up to them but I didn't really know what to say..." He let out a soft groan like he was disappointed. "I was just wondering if you could tell me about it..." 

"Heh, it's okay. I actually get that a lot... and no, names don't have a gender, people are just jerks sometimes." You start. "Here, lets stop here, drink some coffee and warm up a bit and I will tell you about it." You suggest as you both come up on a cozy little cafe. You were already about an hour into your trip so taking a little break would be nice. 

"Okay!" He opens the door for you and you head inside. 

Papyrus orders some hot chocolate and you get a latte. The two of you settle down at a table and sip at your warm drinks. "So..." You sigh. "My name..." You smile at him and let your eyes fall to the table. "It's a nick name... ah, I just go by it because someone super special gave it to me when I was really young and... they aren't around any more so it just... makes me feel... like they are still around... does that make sense?" You take a quick sip of your latte as you feel your eyes start to water up. There was no way you were going to let yourself get weepy in public.

"OH..." Papyrus breaths out. "I-I'm so sorry." 

You give him a tired smile. "I don't want to go into the details here if that is okay... I would probably start crying and well, I think we have both had enough public tears, yeah?" You say as you give a teasing grin.

"Nyeh heh... yeah, I understand." He gives your hand a squeeze and you smile. 

It was actually kind of nice to talk about this stuff. You only really ever talked to Tess about any of this so it was nice to share it with a new friend. "So um..." You start, eager to continue your conversation. "That 'battle body' you were talking about when you mentioned the royal guard... do you still have it?" You ask with a playful grin. "I would love to see it!" 

 A wild blush comes to his cheeks. "NYEH HEH HEH HEH!" He takes a blushing sip of his hot coco and taps his fingers on the table. "I-I do..." He pauses and scratches the back of his skull. "I suppose I could show you sometime..." 

"Yeah!?" You let out a giddy noise, absolutely bubbly with delight. Already imagining an amazing suit of armor or maybe some sort of fighting gear from a samurai anime or something. "Pinkie promise you'll show me?" You ask as you wiggle your pinkie at him.

"Nyeh heh, pinkie promise!" He agrees and locks his bony pinkie with yours. 

Your drinks now finished the two of you set off again, the two of you making small talk about the chilly fall weather and the up coming holidays, making vague plains for Halloween. The two of you round a corner and your conversation is interrupted by two loud excited shrieks of joy. 

"THEO!" Two kids in red knit caps with hearts on them and puffy blue winter coats who were only about seven years old yelled excitedly at the mere sight of you and started running towards you as fast as their short legs would let them; however they skidded to a stop as they finally noticed Papyrus. They gasp and tense up, hugging each other as they stare at him fearfully. 

"Danny, Darci!" You say cheerfully. "Hey, don't be scared, this is my friend Papyrus! He is the sweetest skeleton you will ever meet!" You say as you squat down and the two sidle over to you while keeping their eyes on him.

"But he's so scary looking..." They whisper in unison.

"S-Scary?!" Papyrus exclaims, looking like he is about to cry.

You give him an apologetic look and pat the twins on their shoulders. "Actually, let me tell you a secret about him..." You look from side to side as if making sure no one was listening in as you pull them in closer. "He's a super hero... and he use to work for a king." 

They both gasp in child like wonder. "No way..." They whisper back and look up at Papyrus with stars in their eyes. 

"But don't tell anyone." You add teasingly and give Papyrus a playful wink. 

"Oh! THAT'S RIGHT! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS AM CHARGED WITH THE TERRIBLE BURDEN OF PROTECTING HUMANITY!" He responds and strikes a heroic pose, that was made more dramatic as his bright red scarf flapped in the breeze behind him. Your face lights up as you smile at him. 

That was amazing.

"WOW!" They exclaim and run over to him. 

 "Are you super strong?" Darci asks.

"Can you fly?!" Danny asks.

"Do you shoot lasers out of your eyes?!" They both ask.

"NYEH HEH HEH HEH!" He laughs out and kneels down in front of them. "I don't have any of those powers." He answers and they both let out a disappointed 'aw' in response. "My powers are WAY cooler than that!"

They both gasp. "Really?!"

"YES!" He stands up again and strikes another super heroic pose. "I HAVE THE INCREDIBLE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP AND BEING REALLY SUPER COOL ALL THE TIME!" 

They both blink at him, dumbfounded and you can't help but laugh.

"What?" Darci says.

"That's dumb..." Danny huffs out.

"Aw..." Papyrus' shoulders droop and he lowers his head. 

You let out a soft chuckle as you walk over next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Well, I think it's awesome! Villainy totally crumbles before his amazing acts of kindness and are no match for the sheer force of his mind blowing coolness!" 

Papyrus blushes proudly and the twins groan at both of you. You giggle and give his shoulder a squeeze before squatting down in front of the twins again. "So how are things going guys? Anything been happening around the neighborhood?" 

"Mom has a new boyfriend..." Darci grumbled.

"Yeah, he stinks and is grumpy all the time." Danny added.

You grimace. You didn't like their mom at all. She was a self entitled brat that didn't seem to even care that she had two sweet and adorable rug rats to take care of. You really wanted to get them out of this place but there wasn't much you could do besides make sure that their mom didn't hit them any more. "That sucks... Make sure you guys call me if he does anything mean or weird, okay?"

"Okay!" They both respond. There was a little safety net set up that if things did get dangerous for them there was a few houses they could run to that were close by that would help them out and call would you asap, so at least you had that.

"Anything else?" They shake their heads in response and you sigh in relief. "Good." You slip off your backpack and start to unzip it. "I got you some toys!" You say and their faces light up. You pull out a blue, stuffed T-rex for Darci and a red power ranger action figure for Danny. Darci lovingly hugs her new plush friend and Danny gushes over how cool his new action figure is.

"Alright, well I need to see how everyone else is doing. You two stay out of trouble and away from the streets, okay?" You say as you stand up and slip your backpack back on.

"NO!" They both exclaim in protest. "Play with us!" Darci begs. "Please!" Danny adds.

You groan and give them an apologetic look. You were here for other reasons, not to just give them toys and play.

"OF COURSE!" Papyrus chimes in and you look at him in surprise. 

"YAY!" They both cheer and start running circles around both you and Papyrus. 

You sigh in defeat. "Alright but only for a little bit." 

"YAY!" Papyrus exclaims and starts running around you with along with the twins with his arms up in the air in excitement. 

You groan and put your hand on your face. "You giant skele-man child..." You grumble. "So what are we playing?" You ask.

"Heroes vs Villain!" Danny answers. 

"YEAH!" Darci and Papyrus exclaim. 

"We're the heroes and Theo is the villain!" Danny says while pointing at you.

"Aw, what? Why am I the only villain?" You ask.

"Because when heroes team up they only ever face one villain, duh!" Darci answers.

"Ugh... no fair." You protest and put your hands on your hips. "Fine, but that means I am super strong then." You add teasingly.

The twins chatter about what kind of heroes they are going to be as the four of you walk over to a near by empty lot that is full of dried out grass and dead leaves. "PREPARE YOUR SELVES FOOLISH HEROES!" You exclaim dramatically as you swing around and point at them. "YOU WILL NEVER SPOIL MY FIENDISH PLANS!" 

"NYEH HEH HEH HEH! YOU WILL NEVER DEFEAT THE-" Papyrus pauses so that Danny can whisper their hero team name to him. "THE MIGHTY EXPLORERS!" He finishes and poses dramatically with his hands on his hips.

"YEAH!" The twins exclaim and mimic his pose. You had to take a quick moment to take a picture of them with your phone.

"HA! Explore this!" You jump up onto a large rock and point at them. "I have filled this field with Lava! You will never navigate the precarious field of oddly placed rocks and platforms and make it in time to deactivate my electro static bomb that will make everyone super, super, obnoxiously staticy." You let out your best evil laugh.  "No one will be able to hug or snuggle ever again with out shocking each other! HAHAHAA"  

They all gasp and jump onto rocks as if the field had really turned into lava under their feet. "HOW DARE YOU..." Papyrus starts. "Um..." 

"Oh... uuh... The... E-Electric... SHADOW! yeah." You answer.

"ELECTRIC SHADOW!" Papyrus continues. "YOU'RE VILLAINY CAN NOT CONTINUE!" 

An exchange of quips and one liners goes on as Papyrus and the twins hop from rock to rock as you laugh maniacally at them. They shot pretend energy bursts at you and fire blasts which you 'gracefully' dodge and continue to mock them. Finally Papyrus and the twins reach you and the dramatic show down begins. 

"Surrender Shadow! And we will go easy on you!" Danny exclaims. 

"That's Electric Shadow to you!" You start. "I will never surrender!" 

The twins line up like they are about to pummel you with their pretend magical abilities. "I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS AND THE MIGHTY ADVENTURERS-"

"Explorers." Darci corrects.

"-EXPLORERS WILL STOP YOU ELECTRIC SHADOW..." Papyrus continues.

"YEAH!" The twins say in unison.

"WITH LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP!" He finishes. "Well, not _LOVE_ love, but Love!" 

"Wait, what?" The twins lower their fists and look at him in confusion while you give him a curious look. What he meant by not 'LOVE love, but love' you had no idea.

"NYEH HEH HEH HEH, ELECTRIC SHADOW! I SENSE GREATNESS IN YOU AND SHALL SAVE YOU FROM THIS DARK, OBNOXIOUSLY STATICY PATH YOU ARE TAKING!" He states while pointing dramatically at you.

You put your hands on your hips and throw your head back in a laugh. "FOOLISH! You are wasting your time the _'_ _not so great'_ Papyrus! My electro static bomb will go off any minute. HAHA!" 

"NO IT WONT, for you see... I... have intense feelings for you!" He states lovingly while dramatically covering his eyes in shame with his arm.

You mock gasp and press a hand over your heart in shock. "No! Your foolish feelings have no affect on me! I-I don't even like you baka!" 

Papyrus staggers like he had just taken a hit. "I KNOW THAT ISN'T TRUE! I know it was YOU who made me that pasta lovers dinner and left it on my door step!" 

You gasp and look at him in fake horror. "HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT WAS ME!... I mean, THAT TOTALLY WASN'T ME AT ALL!"

"WELL.... it was really staticy." He answers and the twins gasp as they get pulled into the tangled story the two of you are telling.

"Oh, of course! Betrayed by my own static yet again..." You fall dramatically to your knees and fake sob. "Yes... it was me, I made you the pasta of lovers... but alas, I can not love you for I... am UNLOVABLE!" 

"THAT IS NOT TRUE!" Papyrus exclaims.

"IT IS! For you see... I can not touch anyone with out... shocking them with static!" You mock cry into your hands.

"NO! ELECTRIC SHADOW, THIS CAN'T BE TRUE!" Papyrus cries out as he falls to his knees and weakly reaches for you.

You jerk away and the twins gasp. "No, Papyrus, you mustn't touch me... you will get shocked... and it will be really... annoying..." 

"SHADOW!" Papyrus suddenly gets to his feet and pulls you to yours in a dramatic, almost dance like move and flinches as if he had been shocked. His hands slide over your back as he pulls you in close. "I don't mind being annoyed, not by your obnoxious static electricity that courses through your body. As long as I am with you, I can endure!" 

You actually blush from the pure sincerity in his words. "P-Papyrus..." You stammer as he moves in closer.

"KISS KISS KISS!" The twins start to chant. 

Papyrus' eyes go wide and you blush to your ears. 

"Nyeh heh..." He looks away and the kids start to boo at him.

"NO! You love her! You have to kiss her! That's how it works!" Danny insists. "Otherwise they wont ever know that you actually love them!" 

You dramatically pull away and gasp in mock pain. "NO! He mustn't! A kiss would be to... SHOCKING! He would never-" 

You suddenly find yourself whirled around and hugged intimately close as Papyrus dips you backward, move straight out of a romance movie and kisses you right on the lips. The twins clap and giggle in approval. It was soft and warm and not at all what you expected kissing a skeleton would feel like.

Papyrus laughs a bit awkwardly when he pulls away. You force back your blush and clear your throat. "Welp! That was fun, but we really do need to move on now." You say as you pull your self out of Papyrus' arms. 

"AW!" The twins protest. 

"Nyeh heh heh! Don't worry! We will be back soon." Papyrus adds.

You and Papyrus both hug the twins goodbye and continue on your way. Things, awkwardly quiet between you. 

"S-sorry I kissed you like that." Papyrus said, breaking the silence. 

"Haha, it's okay. It was all just pretend, right?" You swallow dryly and try not to think about it. That kiss sure as heck didn't feel pretend. 

"Right! Of course!" He responds. "I mean, I love you but as my friend." He sighs and rubs the back of his head as if he was thinking about what else he could say.

"I care about you too, your friendship is important to me." You say with a sigh. "But man, Papyrus, that kiss felt... intense..." 

"Nyeh heh..." He stuffs his hands into his pockets and walks a bit more stiffly. "I got pulled into our little story I guess." He chuckles a bit. "It's fun to be dramatic." 

You look at him for a moment as the two of you walk. "Heh, yeah. I suppose it is sometimes." You chuckle and bump against his side playfully. 

"Besides, I know that you and my brother-" He stops him self and averts his gaze quickly.

"Me and your brother what?!" You sternly ask while giving him a hard stare.  

"N-nothing..." He retorts, a sweat breaking out on his forehead.

"Papyrus Skeleton. You tell me what you mean." You say even more sternly.

"Nyeh... I-I just... I saw you two on the couch together... at the sleepover." He says and you let out a squeak of a noise and blush wildly. You were sure no one had seen the two of you because if Tess had she wouldn't have shut up about it. "A-and... um... Tess pointed out how infatuated my brother is with you... and now it's super obvious to me" He gives you a quick glance and he averts his gaze again which makes you feel like there was also something else he wasn't telling you.

"Wh-when did Tess tell you that?!" You ask. Your voice a bit more squeaky than usual. 

"When she showed me how to make those sweet drinks..." He confesses.

"Ugh, of course she pulled you into her mischievous plans..." You groan. "You know... this... this uh... I don't... I mean, I have no idea what is even going through Sans mind and... it's... um, I mean he isn't hard to look at or... but that's not the-the point... I don't... ugh, I mean I don't even know why he has googly eyes for me... it's rather confusing... and..." You ramble on and give him short glances as you do when you catch a sudden guilty look on his face. "Wait... do you know why he is being so... _infatuated_ with me?" 

"Nyeh heh..." He pushes his hands even deeper into his coat pockets and does his best to not look at you. "I-IT'S COMPLICATED!" He blurts out. So obviously stressed out by this topic, but this was your chance to get some answers and you weren't going to back down. 

You stop him and put a hand on his chest while giving him a serious look. "Papyrus, please... I... I overheard the two of you talking at the pub, about why Sans was trying to make me hate him and he said he had done this before..." You confess, hoping this will gain you some answers finally. "What did he mean by that?" 

Papyrus' eyes go wide before he averts his gaze to the sidewalk. "Oh..." He sighs. Things stay quiet for a moment obviously thinking things over. "When we were underground... there was... this human that could... manipulate time, like go back to certain moments or... start things all over. I don't really know the details because I was never aware that it happened... but Sans... He was. Every time things would go back or reset he knew and remembered everything that happened." He stops and looks at you to gauge your reaction.

"Th-that's..." You hug your arms around your self as you soak this in. "That seems crazy... and I would say that's impossible but... I've seen some crazy 'should be impossible' things my self..." You bite your lower lip for a moment as you try to imagine what skipping through time would feel like. "So... Sans remembers but nobody else does? Is that how he was suffering alone?" You ask a bit tentatively as you think back to the conversation the two of you had at the cafe.

"Y-yeah..." Papyrus answers. "He never told anyone... probably thought that no one would believe him..." His eyes droop and his shoulders slump. "I only found out by accident..." He steps backward and leans against a tree with a worried look clear on his face. "Sans... he um... stopped the resets from happening but... well, I don't know all the details but it happened again and took him back five years but apparently before this 'reset' happened you and Sans were dating."

You blush. "Oh..." Feeling a bit overwhelmed you sink down to your knees and sit down on the sidewalk. "Wow... that is a lot to swallow." You sigh. "So we were dating and the this time 'rewind' happened. So someone else can do these time thingies and Sans knows it because he can remember and..." You swallow dryly and rub your fingers up under your hat. "But then... why did he want me to hate him this time?" 

"Nyeh heh... well, I am not fully sure but from what he told me he feels like... things happened because he had made mistakes and was too 'distracted' um, to see the dangers. I think he thinks the reset is his fault and worried that it is going to happen again." 

"Distracted?" You click your tongue. "Me? I was the distraction?" You ask with a grimace.

"Y-yeah... A good one by the sound of it though... I-if that makes it better." He laughs nervously and rubs his hands together. 

You just groan. "Well... that sure does explain a lot." Papyrus helps you to your feet and you dust off your butt. "Man, what a roller coaster of a day." Papyrus nods in agreement with a soft smile on his face. You both stare at each other for a moment and you snort out a laugh. "What a crazy duo we are..." 

"NYEH HEH HEH!" He loops his arm around yours and the two of you start walking again. 

"Lets wrap things up and get some lunch, I know the perfect place." You say as you lean against him.

"SOUNDS GREAT!" Papyrus replies with a chuckle. 

You make your rounds around the neighborhood. First you stop at old lady Jean's house, a sweet old tiger monster lady who had been living in Willow View for a long, long time. Next is Sue's house, a middle aged firecracker of a human woman who has a whole clutch of adopted children, human and monster alike. She is often referred to as 'the old lady in the shoe'. Next is Doozer and Alex, a cute human and monster couple who are trying to have a baby together but with little progress so far. You stop at the twins house to make sure their mom still knows you are keeping an eye on her, and last you check up on the would be 'gang' of both humans and monsters in the area so that they also know that you aren't going to let them get away with any shit but much to your surprise they are actually happy to see you. Having had some strange influence on them they have all decided to look after the neighborhood instead of causing problems for it. Papyrus is surprised to see his 'aggressive flirts' are in this gang as well. 

"Uh, well... I wasn't expecting that..." You say as the two of you walk out of the community center. 

"BOY, YOU ARE TELLING ME! I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD SEE THOSE TWO WEIRDOS EVER AGAIN!" Papyrus chimes in.

"Heh, yeah... I really wasn't expecting him to ask for your number either." You laugh. "He is really smitten with you." 

"NYEH! Well, he can take that smitten somewhere else..." He huffs. 

You laugh, it was just so cute.

"Hnn, that was a lot of fun though... It's nice to see humans and monsters living and working together so peacefully." He says in a soft tone.

You blink up at him and your hearts sinks a little. "Yeah. This place is a slum but it has a lot of good people in it." You sigh and smile. "The world is still a messed up place but it's slowly getting better." 

Papyrus smiles and nods happily at you. 

"Lets go eat!" You say as you pat your stomach. "I am staved." 

"ME TOO!" Papyrus says and pokes at his non existent stomach and you chuckle. 

You take Papyrus to Captain's, the restaurant you use to work in and the both of you are instantly greeted by Tess who works as a waitress there. Hugs and smooches commence and the three of you end up having lunch together, Captain letting her take her lunch break early so that she can eat with you and Papyrus. 

"So, out and about for your weekly rounds I see." Tess smiles as you eagerly bite into your burger. 

"Mmhmm." You nod.

"So... how's Sans doing?" She asks teasingly. "You two bumping tail bones yet?" 

You blush and choke a bit. "N-no!" You say around a mouth full of food and Papyrus laughs awkwardly.

"Aw, come on. The two of you are just so cute together! I want you two to hook up already and start poppin out some little skelebabies." Tess groans out in a wishy washy tone.

This time Papyrus chokes and your blush reaches a whole new level. "T-TESS! Come on... things do not work that fast... jeez." 

She sticks her tongue out at you and crosses her arms. "What can I say, I'm impatient..." 

"Yeah, and that's why all your relationships end in disaster." You retort sharply.

"Tsk... It's not my fault they turned out to be such delicate flowers that were easy to squash." She fires back.

"Mmhmm." You hum out as you take another bite. 

You and Papyrus finish up your lunch and you take a moment to talk to the other employees you use to work with, as well as Captain and are happy to hear that things are still going well with everyone. You and Papyrus hug Tess, say your goodbyes and start the long walk home. It was late in the after noon by now and you and Papyrus pass the time by chatting about Halloween a bit more, what the cooking classes will be like and what Papyrus might do at his new job. By time time the two of you make it home it's around five in the evening. You hang out with Papyrus at his apartment for a bit and eat some delivery pizza with him. 

"Thanks... for today." Papyrus says as he leans against you on the couch, resting his head on your shoulder. Both of you nice and full on your pizza dinner.

"It was nothin." You reply with a sleepy grin. "I had fun." 

"Me too!" He sighs. Both of you obviously tired. "It really was nice seeing monsters and humans together like that." 

You smile and affectionately rub the top of his skull. 

"The place that Sans and I lived before... was not so..." 

"Welcoming?" You finish for him in a solemn tone. 

"Yeah..." Papyrus lets out a long sigh and closes his eyes. "But seeing how things are in your old neighborhood gives me hope." He smiles softly. "Even though things are not the best there they are still looking out for each other... it kind of reminds me of home." 

You blink and let out a soft breath. "You mean the underground?" You ask.

He opens his eyes just slightly. "Yeah..." 

"Hmm, I see." You smile and press your head against his. "You miss it don't you."

"...yeah..." He replies. "I mean... not entirely, being able to see and feel the sun, actually see stars in the night sky... it's amazing and I love it... but..." 

"You miss the community." You add.

"Yeah... Even though we all had our differences we still worked together and..." He sighs as he trails off and shifts his weight against you. "But now everyone has moved apart and there is this huge distance between all of us now... Both physically and emotionally." 

"I see..." That was sad to hear but understandable. "You all went through a huge change in your lives and the world waiting for you beyond the mountain was probably not at all what you were expecting it to be." 

He chuckles. "Very true." 

Things get quiet for a moment and you think about all that the two of you had talked about today. "Hey Papyrus..." You say softly as you gently touch your lips.

"Hmm?" He replies sleepily.

"I think you would be a really great theater actor." You say with a blushing grin.

"NYEH HEH... W-WHAT?!" He retorts.

"I think you would be really good at it." You add while giving his head a playful poke with your finger.

"...You're mocking me because I kissed you, aren't you?" He retorts while giving you a stern side glare.

You snort. "No! I really mean it!" You say defensively. "I mean... that kiss felt really.. well, real! Like you meant it..." 

"I DID MEAN IT!" He responds and abruptly sits upright.

You choke a little. "Wh-What?!" 

"DANNY SAID IF I DIDN'T KISS YOU THAT YOU WOULDN'T EVER KNOW THAT I LOVE YOU!" Papyrus responded defensively. 

You stand up and hug your arms around yourself. "P-Papyrus... he's a kid, he doesn't actually know what he is talking about and you know we were also playing a dumb game."

"I KNOW!" He stands up too and grips onto your shoulders. "BUT YOU ARE A DEAR FRIEND TO ME AND I DO LOVE YOU!"

The world swims around you for a moment as it was absolutely feeling like Papyrus was confessing his true feelings right now. "Th-this is too intense..." You breathe out, on the verge of hyperventilating.

"Wait... no... I love you as a friend!" He quickly adds. "My feelings are strictly platonic!" 

You give him a confused look. "Then why did you kiss me so sincerely?" You ask.

"BECAUSE! YOU ARE MY FRIEND AND I WANTED YOU TO KNOW THAT I DO LOVE YOU, SO IF I HAD TO KISS YOU TO PROVE THAT THEN SO BE IT!" He blurts out, shaking you just slightly. 

You blink at him in blushing surprise and just start laughing. "Papyrus... jeez..." You lean over a bit and push the top of your head against his bony chest with a groan. "You are just too much sometimes..." You laugh and wrap your arms around him in a hug. "Message received you big dork." You say as he hugs you back. "Hey, come here." You pull out of the hug and motion for him to bend down, when he does you cup the sides of his face, bring it closer to yours and lovingly kiss his adorable forehead. "I love you too ya big lug." 

"NYEH HEH HEH! WOWIE! WE HAVE SUCCESSFULLY HAD OUR FIRST PLATONIC DATE!" He says cheerfully and pulls you into another hug. "I really should have dressed better..." He adds and you snort out another laugh. "I WILL ALWAYS BE IN YOUR FRIEND ZONE THEO!" He exclaims lovingly and you start to laugh so hard that you cry a bit.

"Ditto." You retort.

Today was a good day. Confusing and informative, but good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a tumblr if you are interested.  
> http://scribblebones.tumblr.com/


	13. Haunted Hearts

[Direct- Memory](https://youtu.be/xr_D_1fyFFs)

(Sans)

_"I always seem to take the wrong turn,_

_Repeating history,_

_When will I learn, I learn_

_I miss the way that you smile when you look at me,_

_No one ever made me feel so free, so free._

_Slow down don't forget me now_

_I don't wanna fade out of your memory_

_Your memory."_

 

-You-

-September 15 2016-

 

"You are literally the worst." You grumble into your phone as you walk out of the store and start the short walk home. It was about a day and a half after your long walk with Papyrus and you had only just now had the chance to talk to Tess about it. It had turned into such a long conversation that you had to run out to the store to get some deli sandwiches for diner since you didn't have full use of your hands to cook anything. Tess was practically tittering like an idiot through the whole conversation. You of course were leaving out the bits about Sans skipping through time. That was more a face to face conversation, not an over the phone one. "Stop laughing... it's not funny." You add with a huff. "Or well.. it is kind of funny but that is besides the point." 

"He really said that to someone?" She asked between giggles. 

"Yes he did... I swear my eyeballs just about popped right out of my head when he said it." You answer. "So did Papyrus hear you say that to someone or did you-"

"No, I told him that if anyone ever give him any shit that he should tell them to take their judgmental opinion and stuff it up their ass." Tess retorted. Her tone clear and proud.

"Ugh, Godzilla save me..." You groan under your breath. "Tess, stop telling him to say weird confrontational stuff." You urge as you walk into the lobby of the apartment building; giving Jimmy a warm smile and a wave before getting onto the elevator. 

"What? Noway! Papyrus needs to know how to stand up for him self!" Tess fires back at you.

"Tess..." You groan. "There are better ways than being verbally combative..." You retort. 

"It's not combative to tell some ass hat to sit and spin!" Tess huffed out. "He is just so sweet, I don't want anyone to walk all over him or for him to take abuse and feel like he can't fire back at them, ya know?" 

"Tess..." You groan. You suppose she did have a point. Christ, he had thought those two that were mugging him were just aggressively flirting with him... "Maybe we should get him some karate lessons..." You finally chime in.

"Ha!" Tess snorts. "While I think that would be cute, I doubt Papyrus would ever use those skills on anyone..." 

"Yeah, tru-um..." You come to a dead stop as you walk off the elevator on your floor and see a ghost lazily hovering above the floor a few feet away from your door. It was letting out a soft 'zzz' sound as if it was pretending to sleep.  

"Um... earth to Theo? You still there?" Tess asks and you realize you were being incredibly quiet.

"Ah... yeah... I just... um, I found a ghost in my hallway..." You finally reply.

"What?!" She asked with a surprised giggle.

"Yeah... like a real fer real ghosty ghost person..." You reply. "He looks like a see through, half melted marshmallow... and I think he is pretending to sleep." 

"Pretending to sleep, how so?" Tess asks. 

"Well... he is just saying 'zzz' over and over again in a soft whisper with his eyes closed." You answer. "So um... I am gonna call you back..." 

"AW! Wait, take a picture and send it to me!" She quickly squeaked out.

"Ugh..." You roll your eyes. "Fine." You say under your breath and promptly hang up on her. 

You clear your throat, kneel down by the cute marshmallow and give him a patient smile as he opens one eye to look at you, only to quickly close it again. "Hey buddy." You say softly. "Are you okay? Do you need some help?" After a moment the ghost stops saying 'zzz' and things become quiet as you wait for a response. After two solid minutes he finally opens his eyes and sits upright; or well the ghost version of sitting up right at least as he was technically hovering above the ground. 

"I'm lost." The ghost softly and bashfully confesses. 

You let out a soft, welcoming chuckle. "A problem ghosts often have I'm assuming." 

He gives you a curious look and a soft smile. "Yeah..." He looks away for a long moment, obviously in deep thought about something. 

"I know my way around here pretty well, maybe I can help you." You offer. "My name is Theo by the way." 

"Oh!" He gives you another soft smile that makes your heart ache with just how cute he is. "I'm Napstablook." His smile fades and he goes quiet again for a moment. "I wouldn't want to be a bother..." 

"Nice to meet you Napstablook! And I promise, it's no bother." You give him a beaming smile. "I'm happy to help!" 

"Oh... well... I was looking for someone, I thought they had moved here but I can't remember their apartment number... or address... " His expression becomes a bit distressed as he looked away from you yet again. "I'm probably in the wrong building..." His eyes starting to tear up a bit.

"Don't worry, I'm sure I can still help you! Who are you looking for?" You ask, hoping to reassure him that you are still willing to help. "Who are you looking for?" 

"A skeleton named P-Papyrus..." He answers. 

Your face lights up with a happy smile. "Oh! He's my friend! He actually lives down stairs, the apartment right below this one." You say as you point at your door to give him a point of reference. A big happy smile lights up his sweet face and your heart just melts. "See, you were closer than you thought!" 

"Thank you... I'm glad I met someone nice." He says as he starts to drift down through the floor. "Sorry that I was a bother." He hums out.

"You weren't a bother!" You quickly retort but it is too late as he has already disappeared. You let out a chuckle as you stand back up and pull out your phone to send a text to Papyrus but stop when you hear the elevator door open behind you and a bottle shatter against the floor. You turn around just in time too see a smashed Sans fall out of the elevator with a skimpily dressed red headed woman whom you didn't recognize. You click your tongue and let out a disapproving noise that draws Sans attention. He gives you a surprised look before letting out a drunken laugh. The girl soon following suit and starts laughing with him. 

"Hey sssshort-stack, visit'n my brother again?" Sans slurs out as he drags himself to his feet. "Thingss must be getting serious be-between you two." He hiccups and laughs out.

You give him an annoyed glared and roll your eyes as you get a very unwanted view of the red head's utter lack of underwear as Sans helps her to her feet. "Wrong floor bone head." You correct him as he obviously didn't realize he had gone to your floor instead of the one below it. You walk over to a trash can in the corner of the hallway and drag it over to where Sans or his special guest had dropped their liquor bottle and started to clean it up.

A surprised look crosses his drunken tired face for a moment before he lets out another intoxicated laugh. "Of course..." He snorts. "I just... I just can't seem ta' keep myself away from you..." 

You roll your eyes as you gingerly pick up the broken glass and place it in the trash can, but the red head lets out a disapproving click of her tongue. "What is she, ya ex girl or somethin'?" She asks in a snarky, jealous tone. 

"Something like that..." Sans solemnly answers, his tone a bit cold. 

"Ugh, she ain't even cute." She sneers and kicks some of the broken glass at you. 

You abruptly stand up with a deep, supernatural growl rumbling in your chest as you give her an angry glare, warning her not to push it. 

"You should leave..." Sans says to her before you act out on your sudden flare of anger. 

"What?!" She gives him an angry look but it quickly turns soft and she presses her self up against him. "Don't be mad baby... besides you promised you would make me scream my head off in the morning." She purrs out in a soft whisper, but obviously making sure she is still loud enough so that you can hear, probably hoping to make you jealous. It was a fruitless effort however, all you were feeling was annoyance. 

Sans blushes but it seemed more out of embarrassment than sexual excitement. He obviously had not wanted you to hear this information. Again you find your self rolling your eyes. "Th-that's just a shitty joke..." He stammers out. "That... only really works when I go to their house..." He rubs his hand over his face in frustration, seemed reality was setting in again. 

"Whadda mean it's a joke?" She asked with a dumb pout that she probably thought was sexy. You had to fight the urge to roll your eyes yet again. 

"Nothing... You really do need to go though." Sans said with a sigh and pushed her away from himself. 

"Ugh! Stupid bony monster freak!" She snapped at him as she shoved her hand into his coat pocket and pulled out a lacy pair of black panties. "I want my panties back you jerk!" 

This time you couldn't fight it and rolled your eyes. "Classy." 

"Fuck you!" She snapped at you as she staggered her way back to the elevator. "You wouldn't know how to be sexy if it bit ya in the ass!"

"What? That doesn't make any sense..." You retort, your tone bland and uninterested. 

"YOU DON'T MAKE SENSE!" She shouts as the elevator doors slide closed.

You let your eyes roll one more time before looking back over at Sans who looked like a drunken, guilty puppy who had gotten caught in the garbage again. "What in the actual fuck Sans?" You ask sharply. 

"Don't be jealous." He said as he crossed his arms defensively. 

"JEAL-" You scoff and let out a snort. "First of all, fuck you, second of all go fuck your self with that ego, holy shit." You angrily kneel down and start picking up the broken glass again. "Jealous my hot ass, beans and rice..." You huff out. "I'm mad you dumb idiot. Like what was the plan here? After two days of being gone for gods know what reason you just show up smashed to hell and back with a strange woman on your arm and what? You were just going to subject your poor brother; who, by the way is worried sick about you, to an awkward night of listening to you and that girl drunkenly... _romance_ each other?"  You say romance with quote fingers, trying to keep your language clean-ish for some reason. Probably a residual affect from your conversation with Tess earlier. You close your eyes and hiss out a swear under your breath as you suddenly remembered that you forgot to take a picture of the ghost for Tess. "Damn it..." you breath out as you mentally kick your self.

"I'm... I'm sorry... I didn't... I wasn't thinking..." Sans said in a strained, drunken tone. 

"Obviously!" You snap back at him with a snarl. The fact that he was even willing to let Papyrus see him in such a sloshed state after being gone for so long made you so damn mad. You shoot him another angry glare as you pick up a large piece of glass but it ends up slipping through your fingers as you move it too the trash can and you stupidly try to catch it and end up slicing your right ring finger on it. "Fuck!" You hiss out as you stand up and look at your finger. There is a nice deep, V shaped cut on your finger tip and was gushing a good little river of blood down your hand and onto the floor. "Perfect..." You close your eyes and shake your head, mad at your self for not just going into your apartment and getting a broom and dust pan to clean this up. 

"Hey..." Sans was suddenly next to you and gingerly took your hand into his own. You flinch a little, surprised by his sudden closeness. "D-don't hurt your self." He whispered and you could smell the rum that was heavy on his breath.

"I didn't do it on pur-guh-" Your hand jerked in shock as Sans brought your finger to his mouth and a soft, purple tongue slipped past his lips and tenderly licked the cut on your finger tip. You're not sure why but you had never thought of him actually having a tongue... mostly because he had a very skeletal jaw line, as in there was nothing but a huge gap under his chin, because well... he was a skeleton! Granted he had a rather rounded out face and lips and such but... well... shouldn't a tongue just fall out from under his jaw?! "You-" You couldn't finish your though as he slid your finger into his mouth and gently sucked on your new wound. A blush raced across your face, annoyed by the fact that your heart skipped several beats. You were mad and didn't want to like any part of him right now. The confusing part was that it didn't hurt or sting when he sucked on it, instead it actually felt weirdly good. 

Sans moved your finger out of his mouth and kissed it as he gave you an adoring stare. "Heh, that look on your face is so cute." He slurred out. "Surprised I have a tongue?" He asked as he pulled you a bit closer, a look on his face like he wanted to show you more of his tongue. 

"Y-yes..." You breathe out, your heart thudding in your chest while your stomach felt like it was full of butterflies. His hand slides up your arm and you let out a gasp as you pulled away from him. A spark of annoyance surges through you  and you take a moment to look at your finger, ready to squeeze your other hand over it to keep it from bleeding but you find your self shocked yet again as all you see when you look at it is just a v shaped scar on your fingertip where your cut had been. "Y-you healed it..." You stammer out and give him a wide eyed stare. 

Sans just smirks and lets out a short laugh as he again closes the distance between the two of you. "Monsters are very talented you see." He said in a hushed tone as his hands slid over your waist. "We can heal with a hug or handshake or..." He leaned in so very close, your lips just a short breath away from his. "A kiss..." 

Your breath hitched and you instinctively pushed your hands against his chest as he pressed his lips against yours. It was chaste at first but it quickly got heated as his hands slid up your back and your lips parted with a gasp. He took the opportunity to put some french in that kiss and that hot, purple tongue slipped past your lips and teeth causing you to let out a stifled moan. Much to your own surprise your hormones got the better of you and you melted into the kiss. Your arms slipping up over his shoulders as you tilt your head and wrestle your tongue over his. Your heart pounding like a jackhammer as he squeezed you in a tight hug. He was so warm and it felt so good, even though he tasted like rum, beer, ketchup and blood... it was a strange combo to say the least but not so strange that it was a turn off. 

Reality quickly set in when you felt his hand firmly squeeze your right butt cheek. You let out a raspy squeak as you quickly shove him back. You turn away from him as you catch your breath and wipe off your mouth. 

"I-I'm sorry..." Sans breathed out, a bright blush on his face. "I got a bit... caught up in the moment..." 

"Its fine..." You reply, still breathing heavily. "It's my own stupid fault..." 

"No, it's mine. I-"

"I said it's fine." You snap at him unintentionally. You were angry and frustrated and it was making you feel grumpy. This was turning into a really strange night and it was only around six thirty. "I'm going to get this cleaned up..." You push past him, walk over to your door and start fumbling with your keys when you feel his arms wrap around you from behind and press his face into your backpack; probably squishing your sandwiches but you didn't care. You let out a frustrated sigh as you finally manage to jam your key into the lock.

"Please don't mad... I really am sorry." He pleads, his voice muffled by your backpack.

"Sans..." You sigh. Your hand just resting on the door nob as you tried to think. 

"I really didn't mean to get so drunk..." He added, his arms squeezing you a bit more tightly which made your heart lurch in your chest. "I was having a bad time and... was just using it as an escape..." 

Emotions and hormones were running so high already that a huge part of you really wanted to turn around and hug him back but you wouldn't let your self, knowing that if you did that things were just going to get heated again. "Just... go home, tell your brother you love him, dry out and I will see you tomorrow, okay?" 

You hear him let out a shaky breath as his arms slip away from you. "Okay." He says softly. You stand there with your forehead pressed against your door as you listen to him walk away, it taking all your will power to not run after him. A moment later the elevator dings, you heard the doors slide open and then close a moment later. With out looking to see if he actually left or not you open your door, close it behind you, flop face down onto the plush carpet in your living room and let out a long, strained groan. You were so emotionally drained you felt like you needed a nap. 

A few moments later, Captain came over, climbed onto your head and let out a scratchy yowl to let you know that he was hungry.

You let out a sigh. "Aye aye Cap-n'." 


	14. Raindrops on Roses

 

[Chaos Chaos: Do You Feel it](https://youtu.be/pTA0DSfrGZ0)

_"Do you feel it, do you feel it?_

_Do you feel that I can see your soul?_

_Do you feel it, do you feel it?_

_Do you feel the beat in your heart?"_

 

-Papyrus-

-September 16 2016-

 

 Papyrus woke up to the soft sounds of drizzling rain outside of his window. The air had a nice crisp smell to it that he just loved because rain was amazing. Their wasn't rain in the underground, not really. It was all just waterfall mist and water run off. He would never forget the first time he actually got to stand in the rain, where the water actually fell out of the sky and not just dripped off the ceiling of a cave... There was just noting like it. Rainy days were always a favorite of his and just didn't understand why so many humans seemed to dislike it so much. With a spring in his step he pulled off his eye mask, jumped out of bed and whipped open his curtains. He was greeted by a soaking wet, dimly lit world and it felt amazing! "WOWIE!" He exclaimed as he took in a deep breath. He felt fresh and renewed thanks to his long walk with his new friend. He had a job, his brother was going to have a reliable girlfriend soon, Undyne was coming to visit in three weeks, and Napstablook had complex and confounding problems that he had no idea how to help him with or what kind of advice he could offer to his ghostly friend... Alright so that last part was not so great but still, things were looking up!

After making up his bed he hopped into the shower to get ready for his day. He honestly didn't even need a shower but he really liked to start out his day with one. It was just so refreshing! He happily scrubbed down all his bones with his body scrubber while singing 'Hello' as loudly and clearly as he could not really worrying that it would wake up his brother as he was sure that Sans would be sleeping till at least the afternoon, if not longer. Sans was pretty intoxicated last night so he was going to be super hung over which meant he would be sleeping like the dead.

Once he was done with his steamy scrub down he brushed his teeth, flossed, toweled off and blow dried his skull. He might not have long, luxurious hair but the hot air still felt nice on his bones. "HELLO FROM THE OTHER SIDE!" Papyrus sang to him self as he walked from the bathroom to his bedroom, pulled off his towel, neatly folded it and placed it in the laundry hamper. "LETS START THE DAY THE MODEL WAY!" He exclaimed as he pulled his closet door open. Of course he had no idea how a model started out their day but he was willing to pretend that he did. First outfit he tried on was a pair of skinny jeans and a loose fitting plain grey t-shirt. He honestly didn't know why he even had this shirt, it was so boring! It was probably Sans and had some stupid hidden joke to it, or something. He pulled off the shirt and jeans, put them away and tried on a suit instead. Because models wore suits a lot, he was sure of it, because models were fancy and fancy people wore suits... It was flawless logic.

After carefully pulling on the dark blue, pin stripped suit he stared at him self in the mirror for a long moment before letting out a frustrated "NYEH!" It was just not comfortable rainy day attire... There was just no way he was going to enjoy his awesome rainy day in a stuffy suit...

Next was denim overalls and a red and yellow plaid shirt. It was... it was horrible! "A model wouldn't wear this... I think... WHY DO I EVEN OWN THIS?" He asked him self out loud and then he remembered it was for that dancing in squares thing that Undyne and Alphies had taken him too and wanted him to 'look that part'. That whole dancing in squares in a barn thing, confused him but it was still fun even though he wasn't really any good at it. 

Next was a blue unicorn pajama thing that he had gotten for Christmas last year from Alphies. While he liked it a lot it was still not right for the day. "IT'S TOO COMFORTABLE!" Plus wearing pajamas out of the house was a fashion no-no... "Why did I even put this on... I am not staying in today..." He grumbled to him self as he pulled it off. 

Finally he settled on a pair of dark bluejeans that Kevin had given him and his 'Cool dude' t-shirt. "I don't know why Kevin said these jeans make my butt look good... Since I don't even have a butt!" He exclaimed as he looked at him self in the mirror, his hands rubbing over his lack of posterior. Still though, they were super comfortable and that was exactly how he wanted to feel today. Satisfied with his outfit he pulled on some socks, dabbed some bone cologne behind his lack of ears and made his way down stairs to start his morning cleaning routine only to stop at the bottom step when he realized he could smell bacon and eggs. He turned the corner into his cozy little dining room and was shocked to see his brother at the table with a fully cooked breakfast plated and waiting on the table for him. There was even hot tea... It was all very suspicious and made Papyrus feel like Sans was about to tell him horrible things; like they were moving again or that Sans was going out of town again for even longer or something...

"SANS!" Papyrus exclaimed in surprise. 

"Morning Paps." Sans said in response with a tired smile. 

"What are you even doing awake?" Papyrus asked. "You were so drunk last night... I was sure you were going to be asleep all day." Which was usually how things went when Sans was drunk. 

Sans' smile shifted and he stared down at the table. He looked guilty which in turn made Papyrus feel guilty. "I wanted to make you breakfast..." 

"Oh..." Papyrus took a seat across from his brother and gave him a worried look. He felt a swell of emotion. Guilt, worry, anger, annoyance, concern, confusion and over all frustration that he felt so emotionally scattered. While his talk with Theo had made him feel a lot better he still wasn't so sure how to be stern with Sans again. Was being the way that he use to with Sans really what his brother wanted or more importantly, what he needed? Papyrus just wasn't sure. "IT LOOKS DELICIOUS!" Papyrus blurted out as he slid a plate that had two eggs and some bacon on it over in front of him self. He honestly wasn't feeling hungry right now but he had to do something, otherwise he was going to erupt like a volcano of emotion. So he munched down his bacon with gusto as he stared intently at Sans, wanting so badly to yell at him for getting drunk again, or being gone for so long, and the fact that sans STILL had dirty laundry lying out in the bathroom, and that he never calls when he's out of town or- "SO WHAT DID YOU DO LAST NIGHT!?" Papyrus shouted almost too sternly. 

 "Uh..." Sans lifted his head and gave his brother a nervous look. "I um..." 

"WHY ARE YOU A JERKFACE?" Papyrus asked a bit aggressively, already knowing that his brother was going to give him some sort of vague answer to his first question. 

Sans gave him a surprised look. "Wh-what?" 

Papyrus sighed and pulled over a coffee mug and poured some of the tea his brother had made into it. "Theo texted me last night and asked 'Did that jerkface make it home okay?' about ten minutes after you stumbled through the door so obviously she meant you. I wanna know why she would call you that because all she just avoided the question when I asked..." He said angrily, already feeling the urge to lay into his brother over this.

Sans sighed, groaned and thumped his forehead against the table. "I... I accidentally went to her floor last night when I came home... and I broke a bottle and there was this other girl... and it was just dumb and embarrassing and I don't want to talk about it..."

"Hmm..." Papyrus stirred some honey into his tea as he soaked all this in. It explained somethings but not a lot. "Well I want to talk about it and that still doesn't explain how you are a jerkface..." 

Sans lifted his head and gave Papyrus an exhausted look, like he was carefully considering what he was about to say. Papyrus stared intensely back at his brother, urging him to just be honest for once. "She... cut her finger and... I um... kissed it better... and then I kissed her... and..." Sans started, unable to withstand Papyrus' stern glare. 

"AND?!" Papyrus exclaimed as he furiously stirred his tea. 

"A-and... I grabbed her butt..." Sans finally added and pressed a hand over his face in exhausted embarrassment.

Papyrus choked and stirred his tea so hard that he cracked the mug. "WHAT?!" 

Sans groaned and covered his face with both hands. "I'm such an idiot..." 

"THAT'S PUTTING IT LIGHTLY!" Papyrus exclaimed as he angrily cleaned up his tea. "YOU ARE A JERKFACE!" 

"Fuck..." Sans whimpered in defeat. 

"I HOPE YOU AT LEAST SENT THE OTHER WOMAN HOME BEFORE YOU DID THESE THINGS TO HER..." Papyrus asked as he slid his now broken coffee mug aside. 

"I uh... y-yeah, I did. She..." Sans hesitated for a moment as if he had just remembered anther thing. "Oh god, the panties... what was I even thinking?" Sans groaned out. The question obviously meant for him self. 

"PANTIES? WHAT KIND OF PERVERT ARE YOU SANS?" Papyrus asked. His hands firmly gripping the side of the table in exasperation. 

"No, it's not like, I mean... I-I'm not... Paps, please... its not like what you are thinking... probably." Sans stammered out. 

"WE ARE GOING OUT!" Papyrus said abruptly as he stood up from the table, knocking his chair over as he did. 

"Wh-what?" Sans sputtered out as he suddenly found him self being dragged out of his seat by the back of his shirt by his tall brother. "Paps!" He protested as he weakly struggled in his brother's grasp.

"YOU NEED TO GET HER SOME FLOWERS AND... SOME MORE FLOWERS AND SOMETHING ELSE THAT SHOWS JUST HOW SORRY YOU ARE FOR HOW STUPID YOU HAVE BEEN!" Papyrus exclaimed as he tried to forcibly shove his brother into his obnoxiously fluffy coat. 

"Papyrus!" Sans protested. "It's seven in the morning... nothing is even open yet!" 

Papyrus paused and reluctantly let his brother go and Sans stumbled to the floor half tangled in his coat. "Good point..." Papyrus tapped his chin as he considered what they could do while they waited for some stores to open. "Fine, we shall eat your thoughtful breakfast and then do some cleaning and then make you go buy flowers..." 

Sans pulled him self up off the floor and let his coat slide off. "Papyrus... I don't think-"

"OBVIOUSLY NOT! THINKING IS OBVIOUSLY A WEAK SPOT FOR YOU BECAUSE YOU DO IT POORLY!" Papyrus snapped at him and instantly regretted it when he saw the hurt look on Sans face. "Ah- I-I'm sorry Sans, I didn't-"

Sans quickly did a wave off motion with his hand and cut Papyrus off. "Heh, no, it's alright Paps. I deserve it." Sans said with a chuckle. "It's been a while since you have yelled at me like that... just took me by surprise is all." Sans patted his brother on the shoulder and gave him a tired but happy smile.

"Nyeh heh. Well, I really didn't mean to say that so... harshly." Papyrus quickly added. 

"Don't be sorry Paps! It feels good to see you being so lively... and falling back into your old habits. I really missed it." Sans retorted with a wide grin. 

Papyrus gave his brother a surprised look and a second later pulled the short, boneheaded skeleton into a tight hug. "THEN I AM GOING TO YELL AT YOU ALL THE TIME!" Papyrus practically sobbed out. Sans tensed up for a moment, obviously not expecting a hug right then but he quickly relaxed and hugged Papyrus back. Papyrus just felt so relieved that he just couldn't help but cry a little. It was like he had just gotten a part of his brother back. This was good and he was going to work hard to be a better brother from now on. 

The hug went on for a bit to long at first Papyrus thought that Sans just really needed a hug but then realized that Sand had gone limp in his arms and was lightly snoring. "SANS! HOW DARE YOU FALL ASLEEP WHILE I AM HUGGING YOU!" Papyrus roared as he shoved his brother back ward and gave him a firm shake. 

"Don't me mad Papyrus... I was just _embracing_ the moment..." Sans chuckled as he tiredly protested while he clung onto Papyrus' shirt.

"YOU ARE THE WORST!" Papyrus yelled as he shoved his brother into a chair and stormed back into the dinning room so that he could eat his breakfast. A moment later Sans joined him and lazily munched on some bacon while Papyrus ate his eggs like he was mad at them. 

After breakfast Sans cleaned the bathroom while Papyrus did the dishes and the two worked together to sweep, mop and vacuum the floors. Papyrus felt satisfied and after letting Sans take a short nap for about an hour the two set out into the rain to get apology flowers. Sans looked miserable in his coat with the hood pulled up and huddled under a light blue umbrella while Papyrus looked pleased as punch in his navy blue pea-coat and bright red scarf that matched his bright red umbrella. He had actually wanted to go out today and getting flowers was a great excuse to do so. Luckily for Sans there was a flower shop right down the street from their apartment complex so it would be a quick trip, which bummed Papyrus out a bit because he also loved driving in the rain, but walking in the rain was still fun!

In the flower shop they set their umbrellas on a stand by the door so that they didn't drip water all over the floor and they were greeted warmly by the store clerks. Almost immediately Papyrus was shocked to see just how many different kinds of flowers they had. 

"WOWIE!" Papyrus exclaimed as he looked around. "I had no idea that their were so many different kinds of flowers."

The store clerk giggled and gave him a patient smile. "How can we help the two of you today?!" She asked a perky tone. 

"My brother is an idiot and needs to apologize to his girlfriend!" Papyrus answered cheerfully. 

"Wa- sh-she isn- I-I haven't-" Sans stammered.

"Aw, what a sweet big brother you are to help him out like this!" She replied. 

"ACTUALLY I AM THE LITTLE BROTHER! NYEH HEH HEH HEH!" Papyrus retorted cheerfully and striking a bit of a pose as he did. 

"Oh wow!" She exclaimed in surprise. "Sorry for the mix up, but still super nice of you!" 

"THANKS!" Papyrus replied with a bright smile.

Sans groaned and Papyrus laughed again. The two clerks walked them through the different flowers and what each one commonly meant till they finally settled on a lovely bouquet of roses, hyacinths and tulips; which were common apology flowers apparently. It was a pretty combination of red, purple and blue with green leafy bits mixed through out.

"What would you like to say on the card?" The cheerful flower girl asked and looked directly at Sans.

"Oh..." Sans exclaimed, looking a bit like a deer caught in headlights. "Um..." He rubbed his hand over his skull as he gave it some thought. 

"Just say what ever is in your heart." She said, hoping to help him out a bit.

"Right... then put 'Sorry for grabbing your butt.'" He answered.

Both the store clerk's eyes went wide in shock, both a little disheveled by his statement and Papyrus choked on his anger.

"YOU CAN'T SAY THAT!" Papyrus exclaimed.

"But... that's what I am sorry about..." Sans retorted. 

"THAT'S IT?!" Papyrus shot back at his brother, his anger out in full force. "NOT, 'SORRY FOR DRUNKENLY KISSING YOU AND EXPOSING YOU TO A DRUNKEN FLOOZY AND CAUSING YOU TO CUT YOUR FINGER AND FOR JUST BEING A HUGE BONEY IDIOT IN GENERAL!?' JUST THE BUTT TOUCHING?!"

Sans blushed and switched his nervous gaze from Papyrus to the two store clerks who both looked surprised and eager to hear more. "I-I can't put all that on a card..." He nervously responded. "And I don't regret kissing her... I mean I wish I wasn't so drunk at the time... and um..." Sans let out a nervous sigh and rubbed his hand over his forehead. "I guess just put 'Sorry I am an idiot.' That should cover the whole deal."

"It's a good start!" The store clerk said as she started to write on the card. 

Papyrus nodded in agreement. "You should get her something else, something that doesn't wilt that shows that he really means this apology." 

"A necklace!" The first store clerk chimed in.

"A ring!" The other added a second later.

"I can't get her jewelry!" Sans choked out. "I haven't even asked her out a date yet..." 

"A cat!" Papyrus said with a clap of his hands. "A baby one! What are they called..."

"A kitten?" Sans answered. 

"Aawww!" The two clerks hummed out in unison. "What a great idea!" 

"W-what! I-I can't-" Sans Stammered but Papyrus cut him off. 

"YES! GET HER ONE OF THOSE! A cute and fluffy one!" Papyrus said as the girls handed him the bouquet.

"A calico one!" 

"A black one!" 

"You're all insane, I can't get her a kitten! She already has a cat! What if it doesn't like it or something... some cats don't like other cats you know, I could just be buying her a new problem to deal with..." Sans quickly protested.

"Aw, butts... that is a good point." The first store clerk replied. 

"So what!" The second store clerk added. "Just tell her if it doesn't work out that you will keep the kitten!" 

"YES! GREAT IDEA FLOWER HUMAN!" Papyrus exclaimed with a bright smile. 

"Thank you Mr Skele-monster!" She replied. Obviously loving how he had praised her.

"Wait... Paps... No-th-this is getting out of ha-" Sans starts but is once again cut off by Papyrus.

"Thank you for your help and the beautiful flowers!" Papyrus said warmly as Sans begrudgingly paid for them. 

"You're welcome!" The two girls said in unison. "Good luck with your girlfriend!" They said to Sans. 

Sans grumbled in defeat as he left the store with his brother, once again pulling up his hood before popping open his umbrella. "I don't think getting a kitten is a good idea..." He said under his breath. 

"NONSENSE! It's a great idea! Cute things are great gifts for everyone!" Papyrus exclaimed as he searched for the best place to get a kitten on his phone. "WONDERFUL! It's on the other side of town! We can go for a drive! I LOVE DRIVING IN THE RAIN!" 

 

-You-

 

"Bluebird... It's rainin'... and I sure wish I could hear you singin'." You softly sing out as you blankly stared out of your living room window. You weren't sure why but rainy days had always made you feel more lonely than usual. It wasn't that you didn't like the rain it was more that it felt like the world was sleeping when ever it drizzled outside like this. Especially when it was also cold out like it was today. "It's going to be icy tomorrow..." You whisper to your self. Not even really sure why you were saying it out loud. Maybe just to fill the air with something other than the sound of spattering rain? Letting out a heavy sigh you turn away from the window and clip clop your way to your kitchen to make some tea. The black heels you were wearing were just so loud on your hard wood floors, even on the carpet they seemed loud which just made you feel like your foot steps were to heavy or too hard or something. If there was someway to walk 'softly' you had no idea. Or maybe you needed to become a ninja but then heels wouldn't be an issue because no ninja in their right mind would actually wear heels.

Kevin had insisted that you needed more 'heel' practice so you were walking around your house in a pair of black joggers and a comfy, super baggy yellow knit sweater with your new sparkly black heels with that had spikes on the toes. At first you thought these heels looked a tad aggressive but now you really liked them. Dangerously sexy or something like it. They were neat. You wobbled a bit at the sink in the kitchen and let out a sigh. Heels were fun and you liked how they looked but you were starting to feel like you weren't ever going to get use too them... "Mama, I'm not meant for heels..." You say out loud and shake your head. "I'm losing my mind... that's just great..." 

Setting the kettle in the sink and turning on the water your thoughts wandered as your tea kettle slowly filled up. Your eyes sliding closed as there was really only one thing on your mind right now. You could still smell him, still feel his hands on your hips, his tongue against yours... It felt so good... The whole situation haunted your dreams last night and tormented you by playing over and over again like a horrible broken record. You could hardly go ten minutes with out thinking about it this morning. 

"Stupid infatuation... stupid sexy Sans..." You breathe out. You really did feel stupid for becoming so infatuated with him so easily; but there was just something about him that you felt drawn too. Was it the time skip thing that Papyrus had told you about? You weren't sure and would probably would never be sure because you had absolutely no way of investigating something like that... You would need a time machine or a freaky space detective or- "Fuck..." You whisper as you realized you had over filled your tea kettle. Letting out a grumble you poured out the excess water only to stop a moment later when you heard an energetic knock at your door and instantly assumed it was Papyrus, because no one else on earth would knock like that on a lazy rainy day like this.

"Coming!" You shout as you set your kettle on the stove. Your heels clicking on the hard wood floors only to be muffled by carpet a moment later as you made your way to your front door. "Hey Papy-" You started but stopped mid name when you found your self staring at Sans with a bouquet of flowers in his hands. Your heart felt like it had lodged it's self in your throat and it took every ounce of will power you had to keep your self from blushing like an idiot. "Oh, h-hey Sans... I um..." You pause as you notice Papyrus out of the corner of your eye desperately trying to hide just a few feet to the right by trying to smush him self into the wall it's self. "Um..." You continued as you forced back a chuckle. Papyrus was trying so hard, you didn't want to discourage him. "Hi... Sans." You greeted awkwardly. 

"Hey." Sans said in his usual tired tone. "Nice heels." He added with a bit of a cheeky grin. 

"Heh, thanks. Getting a little walking practice in before I have to go to work." You reply. "Kevin's orders..." 

"Ah." He said in response. 

The two of you stared at each other awkwardly for a minute till you saw Papyrus' hand come into view and flick Sans on the side of his head. Sans sucked in a breath and swatted Papyrus' hand away before clearing his throat. "Um, can I come in? I wanted to chat... alone..." 

You chuckle a bit this time and opened the door for him. "Sure." You answered and gestured for him to come on in. 

"Thanks." Sans said with a smile as you closed the door behind him. A second later you heard a soft 'whump' against your door and knew that Papyrus was trying to listen in. It was pretty obvious that Sans had told him what had happened last night "I brought these for you..." Sans said a bit nervously as he handed you the flowers. 

"Oh! Thank you! That's really sweet!" You gush, feeling that swell of girlish excitement in your guts. It was so obnoxious but hard to deny. Unable to resist, you give them a sniff and spot the card in between a rose and a tulip. You pluck it out as you walk to your kitchen to get a vase but pause when you see what is written on it. "Sorry that I am an idiot?" You read out loud questioningly as you turned back around to look at him. "Really? No puns? No awkward joke? Honestly I am disappointed..." You say teasingly.

Sans gives you a nervous smile. "I was under a lot of sudden pressure... My first card just said sorry for grabbing your butt." 

You eyes go wide in response and a frustrated blush rushes to your cheeks. "Well aren't you just a clever one." You retort a bit sharply, feeling a tad embarrassed.

"Fuck, look I just-" He stopped and gingerly touched the right side of his coat for a moment, as if he was making sure something was still there. "I know it's not clever or funny, any of it. The card, my recent behavior, what I did last night... how worthlessly drunk I was... I just... wanted to tell you that I am sorry... for all of it... for well, being so stupid..." 

You stared at him in stunned silence for a moment, surprised by his sincerity. In spite of everything and your weird, mixed up feelings for him it was really nice to hear.  "So... _all of it_ , all of it?" You ask and take a step towards him. 

" _All of it_ , all of it." He repeated. 

"Shoving me out of the elevator?" You ask and take another step forward. 

"Y-yeah..." He answered nervously.

"Making me spill my milkshake? WHICH was super yummy by the way..." You ask and take another step forward.

"Yeah..." He answered. "I'll get you anther one..." 

"Sending me those mean texts?!" You ask, this time pointing a finger at him as you step closer.

"Yes." He answered and this time took a step backward. 

"Trying to force Papyrus to not hang out with me any more?!" You ask and take another step toward him, now close enough that if you wanted to you could reach out an slap him. Not that you actually wanted too or anything...

"Y-yeah." He stammered, a soft sweat breaking out on his forehead. 

"Being a weird, cryptic jerkface?" You ask as you take a large step toward him causing him to bump up against your door as when he tried to back away.

"Yes?" He answered, his tone uncertain. "Am... am I really that weird?" He asked with an honest look of worry on his face.

"Well... yeah..." You answer a bit awkwardly, starting to feel like maybe you had taken this a bit too far. "You-" You started but Sans stopped you by grabbing hold of your hand. It was so a sudden and unexpected that it startled you a bit. It really was perplexing how quickly he could move sometimes. 

"I am sorry that I am an idiot... and for what I have done." Sans whispered softly as he gently touched your fingers to his lips, giving the finger you had cut last night a gentle kiss that made the butterflies in your stomach do somersaults. "I thought I was doing the right thing but I see now that I had only made things worse..." 

You felt your self swallow hard and your heart skip more than a few beats.  The sexual tension in the air was so thick it almost felt like it was making it hard to breathe... Like the air was thicker or heavier. You wanted to hug him and kiss him and touch him... but also punch and slap him a little too for making Papyrus worry, for drinking so much, for making you feel so damned confused. "Sans..." You whisper. You wanted to tell him that you still thought he was an idiot instead you brushed your thumb over his lips, still surprised by just how soft they are. He smiled ever so slightly and nuzzled his lips into the palm of your hand, sending sparks of excitement racing down your to your guts. "You are a lot softer and warmer than I expected you to be." You say in a hushed tone. "How do you do that?" You ask. He was just bones after all, right? it had to be some kind of trick or something... 

"Practice..." Sans answered as he pulled you in closer. Your heart lurched in your chest as you watched him tilt his head and start to lean in for a kiss. You knew you shouldn't but-

_"Mew."_  

The both of you paused and you sucked in a breath as you stared at him for a second. "Did... did you just meow?" It as so soft and small sounding, there was no way that Captain had meowed just now...

"Ah- No... Don't worry about it..." Sans whispered as his hand cupped the side of your face. 

Your brow furrowed in confusion but you found your self leaning in like you were magnetized and he was metal. Your lips met his in a chaste kiss when another soft 'mew' came from inside San's coat. You open your eyes and start to pull away but Sans grips the back of your head the chaste kiss quickly evolved into a heated make out. Your right hand slid down to his chest and gripped the front of his shirt while you tried to not crush the flowers you were holding in your left. A soft groan escaping you as his tongue slid over yours and actually felt a bit weak in the knees. This time he tasted like a watermellon jolly rancher, which made you wonder if he had eaten one before he came over with kissing you in mind...

Was this his plan all along? 

Where you a fool for falling for it?

"I got you something else..." Sans breathed out between kisses. 

"W-what?" You ask breathlessly. It taking you a moment to even realize he had said something. 

Sans shifted his hold on you and once more took hold of your right hand and guided it downward. Your shoulders quickly tense up thinking he was about to stick your hand down his pants but instead found your hand rubbed up against something warm and fuzzy. Your eyes go wide and you quickly pull back and open his coat to see a fluffy black kitten tucked into his inside coat pocket. It's big blue eyes staring up at you as it let out another soft mew.  "KITTY!" You squeaked out in a soft but high pitched tone. Quickly and carefully as you could you fished it out of his pocket. It let out another soft little mew as you cradled it against your chest and your heart just melted. "It's so cute~" You giggled out as you set your flowers down on your coffee table. It was a tiny little thing but you still wanted to snuggle it with both hands. Sans looked a little crestfallen when you pulled away but you were so engrossed in your new kitten that you didn't notice. "Hi there little guy, you're just so tiny, aren't you?" You 'ask' as you nuzzled the kitten against your face. "Where did you get him? He's so little... is it okay that he is away from his mother already?" You asked in rapid succession as you sat down on your couch.

"I got him at the shelter on the east side." Sans answered with a bit of a sigh as he sat down right next to you. Even with the kitten distraction in your hands you noticed just how close he was; so close that your leg was touching his. "He is six weeks old but apparently he is a runt." 

You almost snort out a laugh. Of course Sans would pick out a runt. It was so cute. "Thanks~ I love him..." You say and give Sans a bright smile, only to feel a pang of worry a short moment later when you realized you weren't really sure how Captain was going to be with another cat in the house. "Oh... I wonder how Captain is going to react..." You bite your bottom lip as you look around your living room, Captain nowhere in sight. He was most likely up stairs on your bed. 

"Don't worry-" Sans said as he leaned in closer and gave the kitten a soft rub under the chin with his finger. "If Captain doesn't like him the kitten can stay at my place." He added, turning his head just slightly and looking you straight in the eyes. 

"O-oh, okay..." You reply and swallow nervously. Sans was _really_ close now and it was obvious that he wanted to continue what the two where in the thick of doing over by the door. 

"What are you going to name him?" Sans asked in a soft whisper as he leaned in even closer. His lips were now just a breath away from yours. 

"I don't know yet..." You answered in a whisper, your eyelids already starting to slide closed as you felt your self giving into the idea of kissing him again. 

Sans eyes suddenly went wide and he flinched in surprised as he starred at something that seemed to be just over your left shoulder. Confused, you looked over your shoulder to see Captain sitting on the couch right behind you, his tail swishing angrily and looking like a disappointed father as he glared daggers at Sans. You also jump a little in surprise. "H-hey Captain..." You breathe out.

 

Captain let out a low growl and for a second you thought it might be directed towards the kitten but he was still just glaring daggers at Sans. "Stop that, you grump!" You hissed at him but he just ignored you and kept on with is disapproving glare. "You have a new brother." You say sweetly and hold the little kitten up for Captain too see but he didn't seem to care at all. Even when you booped the kitten's face against his. No response, just more angry glaring. 

Sans popped up out of his seat and stuffed his hands into his coat pockets. The moment obviously gone and Sans was obviously feeling a bit awkward with this whole situation. "Hey, go out on a date with me." 

Your eyes go wide and you look away from captain to stare up at Sans. "What?" 

"Go out with me." He repeated.  

Captain hissed so you stood up to block Captain's view of Sans with the kitten still gently cradled in your arms; forgetting that you were still in your heels you wobble for a second only to have Sans steady you by putting his hands on your hips and just like that the sexual tension rushed its way back into the room again. You close your eyes and swallow dryly as you did your best to not just let this moment happen this time. "You... you don't want to go out on a date with m-" 

"Yes I do..." He retorted before you could finish. You opened your eyes as his hand brushed over your cheek. "You know... you never said if you accepted my apology or not... that's kind of rude of you." He said in a teasing whisper. 

You click your tongue and give him a smirk. "Hmm, I suppose you're right about that..." You let him pull you in closer as his fingers gently curled through your hair. Of course you forgave him, how could you not? He was Papyrus' brother after all... plus that date was really tempting, for more reasons than one but mostly it was the best way to talk to him about this time skipping business and the whole 'dated in some alternate reality' or what ever it was. "I accept..." You softly reply. 

 Sans smiles and tilts his head just slightly. "The date or my apology?" He asked as he pulled in even closer, your body now pressed up against his. 

"Both." You answer with a cheeky smile. 

"Oh I see, I pour out my heart and just a simpl-ow!" Sans winced and sucked in a breath and the both of you look down to see Captain biting San's leg through his jeans.

"CAPTAIN!" You yell as you quickly kneel down, set the kitten on the floor and pull Captain off Sans' leg. You really couldn't believe how Captain was behaving. He had never acted like this before, he was usually just indifferent to other people not aggressive like this.  "I'm so sorry, I don't know why he is acting like this..." You apologized set Captain back on the couch.

"It's alright, I'm fine..." Sans said with a laugh and a sigh. He rubbed his hand over his face and shook his head. "He never did like me..." He said under his breath. You stood up and gave him a questioning look and he quickly cleared his throat. "So, I know you work all weekend so how about Monday?" He quickly asked. 

You let out a snort and pick the kitten up off the floor, worried about him getting under foot and stepped on. "Okay... ah, oh wait, no! That's Papyrus' first day at work. You know we are going to have to celebrate it with him." 

"Right... I forgot..." Sans replied. 

"YOU FORGOT?!" Papyrus roared from the other side of the door.

You jump a little and blush a bit; having forgot he was still out there. "PAPYRUS GO HOME!" You and Sans both yell in unison as you toss a pillow from your couch at the door. 

Papyrus let out a 'Nyeh' and scampered off, but probably not to far. 

Sans groaned and started to sit down on the couch but Captain let out a scratchy hiss and he quickly stood up right again. "Ah, um, I should go before your furry gremlin tries to eat me..." 

"How about Tuesday?" You ask with an amused grin on your face. "Around seven?" 

"Alright... Tuesday evening date, sounds like a plan." He said with a smirk.

"CASUAL date..." You quickly add. "I dress up enough for work, I don't want to dress up a date as well... or well, I mean not this one. I don't want you to think that I don't ever want-"

Sans chuckled and put his hands up in a 'hold on' gesture. "I understand, don't worry. It will be casual." 

 "Good." You retort and things become awkwardly quiet between the two of you for a moment. 

"Text me when you think up a name for the little guy." Sans requested.

"Alright." You smile. "You'll be the first to know." 

Sans chuckled, leaned over and kissed the bridge of your nose. "The sun will be out tomorrow." He whispered. "Come hang out with me and Papyrus if the rain starts to bother you too much, okay? I'll walk with you to work." 

You blush, his words so oddly familiar. Like he already knew how the rain made you feel. "Alright..." You answer a bit dryly. He did already know and that made you feel a bit strange. 

Sans must have realized he had slipped up as he suddenly pulled up his hood and moved towards the door. "See ya." 

"Bye..." You said back and gave him a short awkward wave before he quickly exited and closed your door. You stood their for a moment in confused silence till you hear Papyrus shouting in the hallway a moment later. You laugh and rub a hand over your face. "I made out with him again..." You whisper to your self. "I'm so dumb."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's so late, please forgive me...   
> I rewrote this chapter twice....


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